


Playing Hero

by MidnightMuse234



Category: Bleach
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Cute, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Grimmnel - Freeform, M/M, Mind Control, NSFW, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, RenRuki, TatsuHime, superhero au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-03-27 05:48:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13874466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMuse234/pseuds/MidnightMuse234
Summary: Ichigo's life as the Hero of Karakura gets flipped upside-down when he falls in love with a villain called 'Kishi'. Ichigo also has to juggle hero-work with his life as a college student. Oh, and there's another problem: his roommate, Shiro, is really sweet. But that means Ichigo has to choose between Kishi and Shiro. But what if they're the same person...?Who will Ichigo choose? Will the truth come out? If Ichigo does learn the truth, will his morals allow him to love a killer?There may not be time for Ichigo to decide, for one of his worst villains is returning to Karakura, and Ichigo may wake up the next day to find that Karakura town is no more...(There will be a sex-free version of this story on fanfiction net once I have time to rewrite those scenes.)





	1. Karakura's Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so, this story is a little different than my usual stories because it starts with yaoi and the relationships are developed afterwards? Stick around though because there will be plot twists, cute fluff, sex (of course?), angst, and more. I've already got the whole thing planned and something like 6 chapters written? If you like this story, be sure to leave a comment. And as always, thank you for reading!

“Bank robbery! South of Fujisawa Street. Officials are warning people to stay indoors. Shots have been fired. Blocks have been shut down all around the area. Streets are. . .”

Ichigo tuned out of the rest of the broadcast and rushed to grab his bag. He had already heard everything he needed to, and was now on his way out of his shared room on campus, duffle bag slung over his shoulder. Ichigo paused in an afterthought. “Gonna run to the campus store!” he shouted to his roommate before marching out of the door.

He ran out onto the streets and took the fastest way possible to the bank. When he was getting close, a crowd rushed by him. Ichigo frowned. He knew it would be too conspicuous if he was the only one headed towards the robbery, so he slipped into an ally. He shook his head, ignoring all the voices in his head that said this was so typical of a Superhero - which he didn’t pretend to be nor did he want others to think he was - and Ichigo began to change his clothes.

He shrugged off his hoodie and ‘Nice Vibe’ t-shirt. Ichigo slid his arms into a red, long sleeved shirt. He kicked off his jeans. Underneath was a skin-tight, black pair of stirrup pants (which were pants with an additional piece of fabric wrapped around the bottom of one’s heels). He put on black sneakers, and black, fingerless, skateboarding gloves.

Lastly, Ichigo took out his ‘Superhero mask’. It was a ski helmet and ski mask that he had melded together. It concealed the upper half of his face, and was tight to his head so it wouldn’t fall off if he was thrown into a building. It also protected his head, you know, when he _was_ thrown into buildings. He pulled the mask over his head, carefully tucking in his bright orange locks (nothing would give away his identity faster), then he did up the strap of his helmet under his chin.

Satisfied with his appearance, Ichigo shoved his regular clothes into his duffle bag and threw it over his shoulder. Ichigo jumped for the ladder of the fire exit and started heaving himself up the building. Once at the top, Ichigo tucked his bag against the roof’s parapet, then continued via rooftop towards the bank.

* * *

When Ichigo arrived, the police had already vacated the area and entered the bank. He jumped from the roof to the opposite building and slid down the side of the wall. He landed without a problem, the inhuman strength his body possessed making the whole thing look like child’s play.

“Yasashi!”

Ichigo blushed. He hadn’t gotten used to his new name yet, the one given to him by the public. In the simplest terms, it meant kind, or gentle. He was glad the people saw him as a friend.

“Yeah?” Ichigo responded to the call.

The police officer, Toshiro Hitsugaya, waved the young Kurosaki over. Ichigo stepped up to the police captain and gave a respectful bow.

“Thanks for being formal, but it’s not necessary right now,” Toshiro snapped. “Tell me, Yasashi, you’re going to catch the guys who did this, right?”

Ichigo nodded. “Mind if I have a look around first?”

Toshiro gestured to the front doors. Ichigo gave him a smile and a nod before rushing inside.

Ichigo glanced around the office. It was still clean, polished, as if it had never been intruded upon at all. The outside was a mess, bullets littered everywhere, but that’s just like how _he_ enjoyed things. Teasing his enemies, letting them know _he_ had the upper hand, giving them clues and the likes but always remaining one step ahead.

A sticky note caught Ichigo’s eye. It was the only thing out of place in the entire room. He snatched it off the floor.

The note read,

_Greetings, Yasashi._

_Seems you got here a little late, no?_

Ichigo glanced around. There had to be another note somewhere.

There! He saw another sticky note poking out from under the desk and lowered himself to grab it.

_Aww, down on your knees for me, hero?_

Ichigo scowled. He saw a paper and snatched it angrily from beneath the chair.

_Don’t be late for our date tonight. I want you to meet me at Karakura River under the big bridge by 3am._

_Come alone. And by that, I mean if you bring anyone and I’ll blow up the whole area._

_Get it? I’ll blow you until you come. ;)_

_But seriously, bring any cops and I’ll kill anyone nearby. You know I’m crazy enough to. Crazy about you too, hot stuff._

_Sincerely, Kishi._

“What do you think?” Rangiku nudged Ichigo’s arm.

Ichigo sighed and crushed the paper in his hands, trying to suppress the blush crossing his cheeks. “It was him alright. Kishi. Fucking bastard.”

Rangiku nodded, “I’ll let the captain know. We’ll get him this time, Yasashi. I just know it!”

* * *

But of course, Ichigo’s day just went downhill from there. Turns out he forgot he was meeting Rukia for brunch and had to make up some excuse - she couldn’t know about his other identity, it could get her into trouble.

After brunch, Ichigo had class. Then he went straight home, avoiding his roommate, and tried to get a good sleep. Kishi wanted to meet him later this evening, after all, and Kishi’s meetings usually took forever.

Tonight would be no different.

Ichigo appeared in full costume under the bridge at the exact time Kishi had ordered him to. He slumped against the bricks, hidden away in the shadows of the bridge. It wasn’t long before a figure appeared at the opening of the tunnel on the other side.

“You look radian’, as ever,” Kishi teased, voice bouncing across the still waters and against the stone of the bridge.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. “You can’t even see me. It’s too dark.”

“Naw, but I can imagine ya, and yer hot in ma head.”

A blush spread across Ichigo’s cheeks. He noticed Kishi’s figure getting closer. A sigh escaped pink lips and echoed under the bridge. “Are we really doing this again?”

“Ya wanna do somethin’ else?”

“Eh, not really,” Ichigo replied.

He felt hands grip his hips. Hot lips kissed down his neck. He felt Kishi tug at the buckle under his chin. “May I take this off?”

“Yeah, just gimme a sec,” Ichigo replied. Kishi stepped back and spun around. Ichigo could make out the back of the other’s head covered by a hood. Ichigo removed his helmet and let it clatter to the ground. Then he pulled a hoodie over his head and pulled the strings on it tight. They had done this before on a night with a fuller moon and Kishi swore he never saw a thing - but Ichigo still didn’t want to take any chances of his identity being revealed.

“Ya good? May I turn back ‘round?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ichigo muttered.

“Che, don’t ‘yeah’ me. Ya make a big deal outta keepin’ yer identity a secret an’ then ya shrug yer shoulders like ya don’ care.”

Ichigo spun Kishi around and tugged him close. “I do care, and you know why I can’t reveal my identity. You don’t want to reveal yours either, so shut up, idiot, and kiss me.”

Ichigo could hear Kishi chuckling just before their lips connected.


	2. Meeting in the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usually, I write sex later in my stories... this time it's happening right away. So if you're not into reading that, don't read this chapter. Plot picks up in chapter 3!

“I hate you,” Ichigo panted, his seed dripping from the corner of Kishi’s lips.

The other’s teeth glowed in the darkness. “I know. It’s wha’ makes this  _ so _ much fun. Ya’ve got so much fire, so much passion, and it’s ten times better with all tha’  _ delicious _ hatred.”

Ichigo wobbled to his feet. He was surprised at how shaky his body was. In the past (besides the first time he'd ever dropped his pants for his greatest enemy), Ichigo recovered quickly from the pleasure Kishi brought him. Tonight, however, Kishi seemed to be in a  _ really  _ good mood. Ichigo didn't want to think about whatever evil the man got up to before he had gone down on him that night.

Suddenly, Ichigo's hands were snatched and pinned against the wall. The young hero shivered, feeling Kishi’s lips trace his collarbone.

“I-I thought you-”

“Hush,” Kishi muttered. “I’ve simply  _ got‘a  _ taste more of you.” Lips moved down Ichigo’s neck. Exhaustion from his previous release crept back in, dulling Ichigo’s senses, and his lips were looser this time. Moans spilled freely as Kishi nipped and kissed his neck.

“F-Fuck,” Ichigo cursed, “ngh, you’re gonna make me hard a-again.”

“Is tha’ a bad thin’?”

“K-Kishi. . .”

Kishi grinned and yanked Ichigo against him. “Fuck, I ain’ gettin’ ou’a this without a boner myself, King.” He ground his clothed erection against Ichigo’s, their breaths mingling as they moaned together. “Yasashi, d’ya know how to give a blowjob?”

Ichigo’s eyes widened. He shook his head  _ no  _ before realizing Kishi couldn't see him. “I don't.”

“Ai’ght, tha’s fine.” Ichigo heard a belt clatter against the rocky ground. He felt Kishi press against him, bare, and bring both their erections together in one hand.

Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut and moaned, his hand instinctively gripping Kishi’s hair.

Kishi placed his lips on Ichigo’s cheek, kissing along his skin until he found Ichigo’s ear. “Ya wanna learn how ta give one?”

Ichigo gasped. “I-I don’t know.”

“I ain’ gonna make ya,” Kishi murmured. “I was only offerin’. ‘Cause if ya wanna learn, I ain’ gonna protest. Ya can practice on me anytime.”

Ichigo felt heat rush to his face. He loosened his grip on Kishi’s hair and trembled as their bodies rubbed against each other. He felt so bizarrely safe in Kishi’s grip, like he could do anything. “Alright, sure, I’ll give it a shot. What do I do?”

“No teeth, tha’s important.” Kishi snorted, “Well, unless yer partner is a masochis’ like me.”

Ichigo nodded. “Teeth hurt, got it. What else?”

“Use yer tongue, it’s how I ge’ ya to come every time.”

Ichigo scowled and shot a glare at where he thought Kishi’s face was. The other must’ve felt the sudden motion because Kishi chuckled and placed a quick kiss on Ichigo’s lips.

“Oh, an’ don’ try to take me all in a’ once. Yer new a’ this, and I wan’ ya t’enjoy it too. Don’t go further than yer comfortable, else it’ll end in the non-fun messy way.”

“Gross, but noted.” Ichigo felt Kishi’s grip on him loosen. He took the opportunity and lowered himself to his knees, feeling Kishi’s hand move across the back of his head. Ichigo smiled to himself. The touch was so gentle, despite how easily Kishi could grip his hood and hair then face-fuck him right there. Ever since the first time they kissed, which was both awkward and welcomed, Kishi always displayed respect for the orange-head. It was especially funny when Ichigo thought about all the times they nearly killed each other in battle.

_ Funny? Ichigo Kurosaki what kind of a fucked up person do you have to be to chuckle at that? _

“Ready when ya are,” Kishi muttered.

Ichigo blushed. He found Kishi’s hips and worked his hands down from there. It was dark, and he couldn’t see anything, but it also made the  _ feeling  _ part much better. Ichigo found the base of Kishi’s erection and heard the man gasp. He followed Kishi’s length, stroking it for good measure before placing his lips on the tip.

“H-Hot,” Kishi gasped. Ichigo felt him tremble.

Now that he thought about it, the cool night air was horrible against his own erection, and the only salvation was Kishi’s hot lips. He didn’t have to imagine what Kishi was feeling right now, Ichigo had already been through it. A rush of adrenaline surged through Ichigo’s body; it was time for revenge.

Ichigo licked the underside of Kishi’s dick, hearing him release another gasp. Ichigo grinned and wrapped his lips around the tip, massaging the slit with his tongue.

“F-For a beginner, y-yer good, ah,” Kishi gasped, which only encouraged Ichigo further.

Ichigo massaged Kishi’s sack with his fingers, and took in a little more of his erection. His tongue swirled around Kishi, making the other tremble and release more moans. Ichigo suddenly tensed, the nerves in his mouth forcing him to swallow. He heard Kishi moan his nickname, and Ichigo pulled back.

“Well, that’s quite enjoyable from down here,” Ichigo muttered.

Kishi snorted and pressed his hand against the wall for support. “Fuck, ya haven’t a clue wha’ it’s doin’ to me up here.”

Ichigo chuckled and raised himself to Kishi’s height. “I’m thinking I’m just about ready.”

“Good, cause I was thinkin’ the fuckin’ same.”

Ichigo felt excitement fill him as Kishi gripped his hips and turned him around. The harsh, almost savage behaviour from Kishi made Ichigo’s blood hotter than ever. He never would have considered himself a submissive, but damn he didn’t mind giving himself entirely to the beast of a man behind him.

“I wasn’ plannin’ on fuckin’ ya, so I haven’t got lube. But I’ll tell ya wha’, you stepped out of your comfort zone an’ tried somethin’ new fer me, so I’m gonna do the same fer ya.”

Before Ichigo could ask, something wet and hot appeared at his entrance. He squirmed and writhed against Kishi, his back arching and a gasp clawing out of his throat. “T-The fuck was that!?”

“My tongue, King. I’m plannin’ on eatin’ ya.”

Ichigo shivered and didn’t have time to say more before he was turned around again and carefully laid on his back on Kishi’s jacket. His legs were lifted over Kishi’s shoulders.

“Just relax, m’love, and lemme make ya feel good.”

Ichigo leaned back into the jacket Kishi had placed on the ground for his comfort. It was soft, and smelled like Kishi.

Another gasp left Ichigo’s lips as Kishi’s tongue appeared once more. Moans and mewls spilled through Ichigo’s lips as he was tongue-fucked, and then a finger or two was added. Ichigo bucked his hips against Kishi’s fingers, white lights spreading across his vision.

“Y-You better hurry.”

“Mm.” Kishi leaned back. “Am I tha’ good?”

“Sh-Shut up, asshole.”

Kishi grinned and stroked himself, the mixture of precum and saliva becoming makeshift lube. He’d have to be careful, more so than usual, when entering the other. At least Ichigo was completely lax for him. Ichigo had learned how to relax quickly from the last few times they’d had sex.

“Ready for me?”

“Always.”

Kishi chuckled and thrust in, hearing Ichigo grunt. His hands rubbed Ichigo's sides to help distract from the pain.

As Ichigo’s breath evened out, he gave the other a nudge, signalling for him to go. Kishi thrust, cautiously, aware that there wasn’t proper lube and he didn’t want either of them tearing. After a few, deep thrusts, he felt Ichigo clench. He pulled out, getting too dry, and he placed his lips on Ichigo’s member to coax him to his orgasm. He felt the other’s hips buck before he finally released. Then Ichigo, still heated and full of adrenaline, felt Kishi down until he found his member and teased him until he climaxed too.

“Ah, l-love,” Kishi panted. “Yer always. . . such a pleasure.”

“And you’re always. . .” Ichigo paused to think of the right words. “. . .so unpredictable.”

Kishi smirked and wiggled around in the darkness to help dress Ichigo. “So, see ya at tha mayor’s rally tomorrow?”

Ichigo scoffed. “You’re going to that stupid thing?”

Kishi cackled and tossed Ichigo’s helmet at him, which Ichigo barely caught. “Wow! Didn’ expect ta hear tha’ from ya. Wha’, ya don’ believe in racism?”

“Ugh, of course I have to go, so of course I’ll be there.” Ichigo hummed as Kishi danced around him, smoothing out the lines of Ichigo’s shirt and tugging up his pants. “I was invited by the mayor, but it does  _ not  _ mean that I believe in what he’s trying to do. Before you know it, Karakura will outlaw mutants and cyborgs.”

“Unless someone assassinates tha mayor.”

Ichigo gasped. “You wouldn’t  _ dare. _ ”

“I’d do i’ fer ya.”

And Kishi would, too. He’d murdered a few men for daring to joke about killing Ichigo in Kishi’s presence. Of course, this only fortified the idea that Kishi was insane, and kept his underlings in his control.

Ichigo leaned into Kishi’s arms. “Tempting, but no. Murder is still murder. I know you’ve killed people before, albeit bad people, but the mayor? He’s just some prick. He’ll get put down by the judicial system any day now. So please, try not to do anything stupid tomorrow.”

Kishi kissed Ichigo’s cheek then knocked Ichigo’s helmet out of his hands. “Alrigh’ I promise I’ll be good. I won’ kill ‘im, but I’ll rain on his fuckin’ parade I’ll tell ya tha’.”

Ichigo chuckled. “And I’ll stop you. I won’t be late this time.”

“Righ’.” Kishi placed what felt like a ticket in Ichigo’s hand. “Oh, an’ this is fer a spa a’ the mall. They’ll give ya a good massage to get the pain ou’a yer hips tha’ yer bound ta be feelin’ after havin’ sex with me three times in the pas’ two weeks.”

Ichigo nuzzled Kishi’s neck. “Thanks.” He found his helmet and placed it on his head before he wandered out from beneath the bridge and grabbed his bag. “Oh, and Kishi, next time book a hotel. You know damn well that we’re gonna be having sex, or doing something, and my back won’t last forever on just that jacket even with all those spa days.”

Kishi’s laughter echoed beneath the bridge. “You betcha, King.”

The nickname sent a shiver up Ichigo’s spine - a single word that promised endless pleasure, and it already had Ichigo craving more. Ichigo turned away before he really did go back for another round. He leapt up the side of the bridge, just about running up the wall. This left Kishi under the bridge alone. The supervillain smirked before dressing himself. He still didn’t have the courage to ask him this time, but he kept hope for the day that Ichigo would toss away his goody-two-shoes shtick and join him in the thrills of villainy.

The same sorrow hit Ichigo once he was a few blocks away. He wanted to go back, to find out who Kishi really was. He thought one night that he'd seen a shimmer of blue hair in the moonlight, but he decided it was just his imagination. He wanted desperately to know what Kishi looked like and he knew Kishi wanted to know the same about him. The two of them decided it was too risky to see each other on a night with a moon, so they met in the darkest and most secluded places they could find. The bridge, although uncomfortable, was next to a river too dangerous for boats, and was a location too risky for those looking to spray paint walls. It was perfect.

Ichigo sighed. Almost too perfect. He could barely see anything at all when there was no moon.  _I wonder if I'll ever find out who he is?_


	3. Prey Upon the Innocent

Ichigo felt his muscles ache as he woke up in his bed. Kishi had really done a number on him last night and it was going to haunt him for at least a week.

The young hero stumbled to his feet. He managed to make it to the door just fine, but anything faster than walking was going to kill him. He sighed as he slowly opened his bedroom door.

“Good morning, Ichigo!” his roommate, Shiro, greeted him. The scent of coffee hit Ichigo's nose as he watched Shiro pour him a cup. “I bought cream and sugar this morning. Don't pay me back. You look tired and miserable, and the relief this coffee will bring you after a rough night of sleep will be good enough payment for me. So, drink up!”

Ichigo swallowed his protest. Try as he may, he simply couldn't argue with Shiro. The man was too kind to him.

“Thanks, Shiro.” Ichigo fetched the cream and poured just a splash into his coffee. Then he put a spoonful of sugar in and stirred. Not being one to waste spoons, Ichigo kept it for his cereal. He sat down at the table as Shiro sat on their couch and flipped open a book.

Ichigo found his gaze wandering to Shiro. The man’s relaxed posture to the sunglasses sitting on his nose. He was so sweet and gentle, and Ichigo had a horrible crush on him. He'd been meaning to ask Shiro out on a date, but then he felt like he'd be cheating on Kishi, or perhaps he was already cheating on Shiro... or at least one of them!

Ichigo sighed. He knew he had to pick one of them soon. But who would it be? Shiro, who was too kind to Ichigo and always had his back, or Kishi, who did such unspeakable, pleasurable things to Ichigo while remaining protective all the same? Ichigo shook his head to clear it and he glanced at the clock. It was nearing his time to leave for class.

“I'll be back around 4:30, as usual,” Ichigo informed. Shiro nodded and that was it. Ichigo rinsed his dishes and left them in the sink to do later, then he collected his things and went to his first class, doing his best not to limp on the way there. Super strength or not, Kishi still had the power to overwhelm Ichigo.

He had a 9 to 12 class, then a break, then a 1 to 4 class. He wasn't looking forward much to either of them.

After many stairs, long hallways, and more stairs, Ichigo stumbled into his classroom with a sigh. The hours droned on, and Ichigo found himself tuning the teacher out. Then, about an hour before his final class was over, Ichigo opened his phone to text Shiro.

‘I have to go out. I forgot that Rukia invited me to go to the Arcade after class. She's convinced that I need to loosen up: even though I need to study! You know how she is... Won’t be back until after dinner, probably. I can pick up pizza?’

Thirty minutes later, Shiro replied, ‘Pizza sounds great. The door will be unlocked and Netflix will be on. Any requests?’

Ichigo blushed and lowered his head to hide behind the screen of his laptop. ‘What about… Death Note?’

‘Movie? Or anime?’

‘Anime. Duh. Don't insult me.’

Shiro chuckled at Ichigo’s response. He turned on the TV and opened up their Netflix. ‘Anime is gearing up. See you in a few hours, Ichigo.’

Ichigo sighed. He didn’t like lying to Shiro, but it was the only way to keep his two lives from crashing in on each other. Besides, it’s not like he really knew enough about Shiro to involve him in something like this. Ichigo wasn’t even prepared to tell Rukia, who he’d been friends with since 9th grade.

As the class was released, Ichigo hauled his bag over his shoulder and made his way to the busses. He was Karakura’s saviour and the only way he could travel was, of course, by bus, and he had a long way to go to get downtown.

* * *

“We welcome another year of safety!” The mayor called out before a large crowd of easily 1000 people.

Ichigo flinched at the screaming crowd and angry faces. Three people had already been escorted out by security for getting too violent. He didn’t disagree with them. The mayor had been systematically removing mutants, cyborgs, cripples and more from the town. He was good at hiding his tracks, but Ichigo knew the thugs hired to drag civilians out kicking and screaming could be traced back somehow to the mayor.

A yawn escaped the young hero’s mouth. He glanced at the clock. Ichigo had been standing there for almost an hour now. The mayor’s speech would soon be coming to an end.

The ground suddenly shook. From across the opening, a huge ball of fire erupted.  _ Finally,  _ Ichigo thought,  _ Kishi sure knows how to take his time. _

“Get the mayor out of here,” Ichigo shouted at Toshiro, who nodded in return. Ichigo jumped off the stage and into the quickly clearing crowd.

From the fire, came Kishi. The man wore tight black clothes underneath a white cloak and hood. He also wore a black mask which covered his entire face. It was skull-like and had markings on it. As the man stalked closer he reminded Ichigo, somewhat, of an animal like a panther.

“Kishi, what do you think you’re doing!?” Ichigo shouted across the opening.

The man cackled. “What am I doin’? What are  _ you  _ doin’, Yasashi!? You claim to defend tha innocent and yet yer protectin’ the mayor who is tryin’ to ruin innocent lives!”

Ichigo prepared himself for a fight. Kishi marched across the opening towards him and swung his fist. Ichigo caught it and used Kishi’s momentum to toss him against the ground.

Kishi grinned beneath his mask. “Looks like someone’s been trainin’!”

Ichigo braced himself as Kishi climbed back to his feet.

* * *

Ichigo entered his dorm with a groan. He had a bruise forming on his left leg and a gash across his chest. Fortunately, his abilities stopped the bleeding as soon as it began. However, the pain still lingered.

Ichigo saw Shiro on the couch and, after kicking off his shoes, Ichigo plopped down beside him, letting his bag fall onto the floor to the right of the couch. Shiro turned to Ichigo and flashed a gentle smile at the orangette. “Long day?”

“You have no idea,” Ichigo murmured. He leaned his head back on the couch and closed his eyes.

“You wanna talk about it?” Shiro asked.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” Ichigo admitted. Then he realized he wasn’t lying very well and he added, “It’s not like I had a bad day. We went to the Arcade and then I went shopping for some gifts. It’s just that one store didn’t have what I needed so I had to run across town and you know there was the mayor's rally and the bus took forever to get through the crowd...”

Shiro chuckled and nodded. “Understandable. And it seems like you forgot the pizza.”

Ichigo gasped and sat up, eyes snapping open. “Shit! You’re right! Aww, Shiro, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Shiro winked. He marched over to their oven, put on oven mitts and took out a freshly cooked, store-bought frozen pizza. “I gotcha covered.”

Ichigo blushed as Shiro set it down on the coffee table in front of them. “You… didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to,” Shiro insisted. “You’ve been stressed lately. I can see the tension in your shoulders. Plus, you’ve been staying out super late the last couple of weeks. School must be getting tougher for you, especially since you’re getting close to midterms. Am I right?”

_ Shiro is so observant, nothing like Kishi and his stupid coupons, _ Ichigo thought.

Slowly, Ichigo nodded. “Yeah. There’s a lot of things on my mind.”

Shiro nodded and started up an episode of Death Note. “Well, don’t worry. I got your back.”

“Thanks, Shiro.”

“Literally, if you want. I didn't take all those massage classes for nothing,” Shiro added.

Ichigo felt his cheeks grow warm. “Maybe another time. I think I'll go to bed soon anyway.”


	4. Whatcha Wanna Do About It?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title inspired by a song I thought was fitting for this chapter!

Ichigo felt Shiro’s weight on the couch beside him. He didn’t look up from his textbook, expecting Shiro to crack open a book of his own. The two usually sat and read next to each other in silence. It was a simple pleasure that Ichigo really enjoyed.

Although, Shiro could be a little distracting, completely not of his own fault. Ichigo peered over his reading glasses every so often to see Shiro flipping through his book. The gentleness in which he moved the pages and held the book in his hands was not missed on Ichigo, and the way Shiro bit his thumb in frustration when he was caught on a term in his textbook also caught Ichigo's eye.

Ichigo snapped back to his own studying, feeling his ears grow warm. He felt Shiro's weight shift around on the couch and he noticed Shiro put his book down. This was usually when Shiro got up to get water and then came back without saying a word.

So, needless to say, Ichigo hadn’t expected Shiro to actually say something. “Wanna go out and get ice cream? I just got paid, so…”

Ichigo blinked and shifted back in his seat. He turned to look at the other, peering through Shiro’s sunglasses towards where he imagined his eyes to be. “You… wanna buy me ice cream?”

Shiro shrugged. Ichigo took off his glasses and tucked one end into his shirt so he could refocus his eyes on his surroundings. It was then that Ichigo noticed the faint pink on Shiro’s cheeks.

“Uhm…” Shiro cleared his throat. “Well, I would love to take you to the beach, if you feel up to it. It’s almost the afternoon so it’ll still be sunny, but the sun won’t be too hot for me. You know how my skin is sensitive to sunlight and all.”

Ichigo slowly nodded. “Yeah, umm, that sounds great! Just let me go get changed.”

Shiro jumped up from the couch. Ichigo noticed Shiro’s lips widen into a huge grin, which reminded Ichigo of a kid being told they were going to Disneyland. It was kind of… cute.

Ichigo shifted nervously, closing his book and placing it on the coffee table. “Shi, are you asking me out on a date?”

Shiro froze. Ichigo watched Shiro’s bottom lip slide between his teeth. Shiro gulped and nodded. “I mean... if that’s alright? I dunno if you swing that way or i-if you even like me that way, or… Well, it’s just, I really like you, Ichigo.”

Ichigo shot to his feet, his stomach doing somersaults. “I’ve been trying for weeks to ask you out, Shiro, I just didn’t know how to or when would be the right time. So, yeah! I want to if you’d like to give it a try…”

“A date it is then,” Shiro smirked. Ichigo’s heart skipped at the look. “And I get to see you in a bathing suit. Win-win.”

Ichigo circled the coffee table and shot a grin back at Shiro. “Well, I get to see you in a bathing suit too, so…” With that, Ichigo stepped into his room and shut the door.

His heart was pounding. Ichigo wobbled to his bed and sat down. He and Shiro were actually going out on a date? He wasn’t certain if he wanted to laugh or cry. Or if he was going to vomit from being so nervous.

 _Okay, get it together Ichigo. You’re just going to the beach. Get your things._ Ichigo grabbed his duffle bag from the closet. He took out his... _Yasashi’s_ clothing and hid it in a box in the far corner of his closet. He grabbed his case for his glasses from his dresser and carefully placed them inside. Ichigo didn't actually need reading glasses for the same purpose humans did. They were made by Urahara Kisuke in order to make Ichigo's vision worse so that Ichigo wouldn't be distracted by every detail of the page (the fibre, the ink particles, the dust, etc.). Ichigo's eyes caught more details that the average human's which helped him find clues no one else could or it allowed him to read his opponents even with the best poker-faces.

Ichigo changed into his swimming shorts and a pink shirt Yuzu had given him with the number ‘15’ on it.

Ichigo stepped out of his room and opened his and Shiro’s shared closet. He took out two towels and a spare blanket. He turned to see Shiro in his swimming trunks and a tight-fitting Assassin’s Creed t-shirt.

“I’ve got the towels, sunscreen and a blanket. Should we pack anything to eat?” Ichigo asked, placing each item into his bad as he mentioned them.

Shiro marched across the room and dropped his wallet into Ichigo’s duffle bag. “I’m buying, so don’t you worry that pretty head of yours.”

Ichigo huffed and a small scowl tugged at his lips from Shiro's teasing words. Ichigo reached for his wallet on the table but he was blocked by Shiro, and instead just took out his bus pass. “Alright, _mister,_ but when you’re drained of money, don’t come complaining to me.”

“Ah,” Shiro grinned, cocking his head to the side. “Ichigo likes expensive things, does he? Don’t worry, you’re worth every penny I spend on you.”

Ichigo felt his cheeks burn up.

“Wooow,” Shiro whistled, “and you’re way too cute when you’re blushing.”

* * *

They hopped a bus that would travel along the Karakura River until they reached the beach. The bus dropped them off at a small station near the mall. Then they had to walk past the mall and down a boardwalk to the beach. The beach was thin and mostly shaded by trees at the edge of the sand. Ichigo laid down the blanket there and sat down, Shiro sitting beside him.

Shiro chuckled. “You already look exhausted. You should take a nap.”

Ichigo blinked. “What? I’m fine.”

A raised, white brow made Ichigo surrender. He rested his head on his duffle bag and found himself slowly drifting off. A warm breeze surrounded him, carrying with it the white noise of the river and people chattering. He could smell sunscreen and he cracked open one eye to see Shiro applying it. Ichigo watched Shiro’s hands glide over his body, his movements smooth and gentle.

“See something you like?” Shiro teased.

Ichigo gulped at having been caught. He turned away as Shiro chuckled at him. When Ichigo looked back, he noticed Shiro staring. When Shiro swiftly looked away, Ichigo grinned, “How about you? See something you like?”

Shiro pouted. “I thought you were sleeping…”

Ichigo leaned back and closed his eyes. “I was. It’s so nice and warm, but the blanket and the sand is cool. The atmosphere is perfect. Ah, we should’ve done this sooner.”

Shiro laid down next to him. “You should’ve asked me out on a date sooner.”

Ichigo scowled and folded his arms. “I was working on it. Sorry if I was scared to cross the line with my roommate. What if you had said no and we were both left feeling awkward for the rest of the year?”

“That’s how I felt too,” Shiro replied. “Honestly, I… I feel like we’ve been together for a lot longer than a whole hour.”

“I guess that’s what a crush will do,” Ichigo replied with a yawn ending his sentence.

Shiro suddenly stood, prompting Ichigo to sit up. “Relax, Ichi. God knows you deserve a break.” Shiro leaned over and dug around in Ichigo’s bag until he found his wallet. “I’m gonna get us that ice cream. Got a favourite flavour?”

“Chocolate,” Ichigo replied. Shiro nodded and Ichigo watched him walk off.

Ichigo took in a deep breath of fresh air then let out a sigh. _He’s so perfect,_ he thought. _Fuck, Ichigo, don’t you mess this up._ When Shiro returned, Ichigo stood and took his ice cream. Ichigo and Shiro moved towards the water, standing only about knee-deep while they enjoyed their treat.

Shiro kicked water at Ichigo with a chuckle. Ichigo lifted his ice cream over his head. “Oi! Don’t get river water on my ice cream!”

“I’m not aiming for the ice cream,” Shiro chuckled, stepping a little closer to Ichigo. Ichigo took a step away and finished the last bite of his cone. Shiro grinned and slid his hand in Ichigo’s. Ichigo hummed and curled around their joined hands.

Then Shiro pushed him. Ichigo yelped as he fell backwards. He used his grip on Shiro’s hand to yank him into the water with him.

“Traitor!” Ichigo laughed, sitting comfortably on the sand.

Shiro hovered over him. “You were asking for it.”

“I don’t see how!” At Shiro’s grin, Ichigo rolled his eyes and splashed Shiro in the face.

Shiro slowly wiped the water from his face and sunglasses. “Oh, _now_ you’re definitely asking for it!”

“Ah!” Ichigo shrieked. He turned to run away when Shiro wrapped his arms around his waist. Ichigo fell into the water, arms tensing as he held his face above the water and held up Shiro on his back.

Shiro whistled, a hand moving over Ichigo’s shoulder and then squeezing Ichigo’s biceps. “Damn, Ichi. You’ve been holding out on me.”

Ichigo blushed. “Well, it’s not like I walk around flexing everywhere I go.”

Shiro chuckled and climbed off Ichigo. “How much do you lift?”

Ichigo shrugged. “To be honest, I haven’t been the gym in a while…”

Shiro shook his head. “Bullshit. You’ve been working out doing something. Wrestling, maybe?”

“Something like that,” Ichigo chuckled.

Shiro sat in the water and motioned for Ichigo to sit next to him. Shiro sighed, “I love being surrounded by water. It’s so freeing.”

“Yeah,” Ichigo mumbled, leaning subconsciously against Shiro. “It’s nice that there’s a place like this we can escape to. Karakura Town has been getting bigger and busier lately.”

“You been here your whole life?” Shiro asked.

Ichigo nodded. “Yeah. My family owns the clinic in the older part of town. I moved into the dorms so I could focus on my studies, and also because I wanted to try living on my own for a bit. Once I graduate, I’ll be working with my dad full time as the second doctor in the clinic.”

Shiro wrapped his arm around Ichigo’s shoulders. “That sounds amazing, Ichigo.”

Ichigo smiled, feeling his pride as the son of a doctor fill his chest. “Thanks, Shiro. What about you? You live in Karakura Town your whole life?”

Ichigo noticed Shiro’s lips harden into a frown. “No. My mom and I were forced to move here when I was twelve. We just packed up everything and left.” Ichigo slowly slid a hand over Shiro’s, squeezing it. Shiro returned the touch as he continued, “Mom got backlash because of… the way I looked. And that racism is building here. At least mom doesn't have to deal with people calling me a freak anymore.”

“But Shiro, you look-”

“Don’t patronize me, Ichigo. You know I don’t look normal,” Shiro cut him off. "And people around here... well, it's just starting to get worse because of the mayor."

Ichigo frowned and glanced down at the water. “I think you look beautiful,” he admitted.

Shiro slowly squeezed Ichigo's shoulder. “Thanks, Ichigo. I mean it. I needed to hear that. I-I...” Ichigo noticed Shiro’s voice crack.

He pulled the other into a hug. Shiro removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, tears stinging them. He kept his eyes squeezed shut as he buried his face in Ichigo’s shoulder. Although Ichigo couldn’t hear Shiro crying, he felt him shaking and knew Shiro was releasing some emotions that he’d kept bottled up over the years.

“I'm sorry I made that all about me,” Shiro mumbled after some time. “I just wanted to spend time with you and it kinda… just all came out.”

“No.” Ichigo smiled. “I'm glad you trust me enough to talk to me like that. I feel closer to you than ever, and… I want you to feel comfortable coming to me with these things.”

Shiro sniffled and forced a chuckle as he leaned back. Ichigo once against looked at Shiro's eyes through his glasses. “Likewise, Ichi. I want you to come to me if you're feeling stressed or anything, okay? I want to help you, and make you happy.”

Ichigo nodded. “It’s a deal.”


	5. Casual Affair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, from now on, all my chapter titles will be song titles. :D

“Yo, Ichigo?” Rukia said from beside the orange-haired boy.

Ichigo stared at his phone, completely and totally disconnected from the real world. His thoughts were on Shiro and just, damn, how good he felt since they started dating, even though it had only been a few days.

“Ichigo...” Rukia repeated.

Ichigo ‘hmmed’.

Rukia nudged his side. “Rukia to Ichigo, you with me?”

He blinked. “Oh, sorry, guess I was distracted.”

“Seems like it. Did you hear what I asked?”

Ichigo slowly shook his head ‘no’.

“Do you want to hang out with me, Renji, and Keigo at the Arcade tonight? Obviously, after your class ends and you can drop your stuff off at your dorm room.”

Ichigo gulped and slowly lowered his gaze from Rukia’s. He cracked open his laptop before answering, “No, I can’t go.”

“You can’t go?” She asked.

Ichigo flinched a little from the disappointment in her voice.

“But we haven’t gone to the Arcade in ages! Why can’t you go?”

“I can’t go tonight because…” Ichigo cleared his throat. “...because I have a date.”

Rukia gasped. “Wait... you have... a date!? Is it with Shiro?!”

Ichigo blushed and turned his head to face his over-excited friend. His grip unintentionally tightened on his laptop. “Yes, it’s with Shiro, now shut up before the whole class knows.”

Rukia shook Ichigo by the shoulders. “So, who asked who? How long have you been dating? Where are you going? Tell me more, Ichigo! Please!”

Ichigo groaned and closed his eyes. He let his arms drop beside him and he rested his head on his desk, squishing his forehead against the cool, smooth surface. “We’ve been dating for like… three days. He took me out to the beach, and then he said I humoured him, so he asked me where I wanted to go. I said movie theatre. He’s paying for my ticket this evening.”

“Yes!” Rukia punched his arm. “Way to go!”

Ichigo chuckled and rubbed his arm. He wished he felt as excited as Rukia, but the truth was that he felt guilty. Did this count as cheating on Kishi? Did Ichigo really have anything going on with Kishi that he could cheat on? Ichigo sighed and turned back to his laptop. He idly signed into his email and other things.

Now that Kishi had entered Ichigo’s mind again, his skin wouldn’t stop tingling. His mind wouldn’t stop buzzing with the thoughts of him and Kishi, so close, and yet always too far apart.

Ichigo blushed. Would he and Shiro ever be that way? Could they ever be that way? Not every gay guy was into… well, what Ichigo was into - whatever that was. Ichigo didn’t even know what he wanted. And even if he did, not everyone wanted sex to be a part of their relationship. So what if Ichigo kept running back to Kishi? What if Shiro found out about Ichigo’s double life? And if Kishi found out about Shiro, what would Kishi do?

Rukia waved a hand in front of Ichigo’s face.

“Sorry,” Ichigo muttered, “Lost in thought.”

“I could tell,” Rukia smirked. “Well, it looks like your class is starting soon, so I’m heading out. Talk to you later, alright Ichigo? I want to hear all about your movie date!”

Ichigo nodded and gave her a smile. “Yeah.”

He felt bad for not giving Rukia a proper send-off, but his mind couldn’t stay focused. Ichigo groaned as he found his thoughts wandering back to Kishi and Shiro. He fought off those thoughts again and again until the lecture was done. Then he excused himself and decided that the library would be a better place to work on his assignment.

An hour later, Ichigo gave up completely on work. He packed up his laptop, returned a book to the front of the library, and then made his way back to his dorm.

* * *

Kishi or Shiro… Kishi or Shiro…

Ichigo sighed as his thoughts wouldn’t stop racing. He pushed open his and Shiro’s front door. He slowly entered, guilt weighing his movements. He tossed his bag onto his bed in his room and that’s when he heard Shiro’s bedroom door open.

“Hey, you’re back early,” Shiro said.

As soon as Ichigo saw Shiro, his racing thoughts stopped.

Shiro smirked, “So, movie right? Thoughts on which one?”

Ichigo shrugged. “Honestly, I didn’t plan that far ahead.”

Shiro smiled. “Well, what if we just go to the theatre and see what’s playing?”

Ichigo slowly reached for his phone. “Or, I can just look it up?”

“Oh.” Shiro blinked. “Well, sure, but I was thinking it might be more fun to just… wing it?”

Ichigo turned off his phone and shoved it in his pocket. “Alright, sure. To the busses then?”

Shiro nodded.

It was at that moment, Ichigo heard a phone go off. Dread set in his stomach.  _ No, no, no, no, no! Not right now! Please, not right now! _

Shiro raised a brow. “Is that your phone, Ichigo?”

Ichigo shrunk and took small steps towards his room. “N-No, umm… The ringtone sounds familiar. I think it’s…” Ichigo thought for a solid moment while digging around inside the bag on his bed in order to stop the noise. When he took out the phone, he also blurted, “It looks like Rukia’s?”

“Rukia’s?” Shiro chuckled from the doorway. “How did her phone end up in your bag?”

Ichigo shut off the phone. He slowly turned around to face Shiro. “Ahaha… I think, maybe, I grabbed her phone by mistake and put it into my bag? It looks a lot like mine…”

That’s because it was the same phone. Ichigo relied on his first cell phone - one with a black case - and it proved so useful that he bought a second - one with a violet case - to become Yasashi’s phone. He didn’t want the number to be traced back to him, so he had Kisuke Urahara do the legal work for him and he simply paid the man to get it.

Ichigo dropped his hero phone into his bag. “I’d better return it to Rukia, but that can wait until tomorrow. I’ll message Renji to tell her that I have her phone.” Ichigo took out his first phone and pretended to send the message. “Rukia is with Renji and a few others right now at the arcade. The arcade that's, uh, not near the movie theatre we’re going to.”

Shiro smirked at Ichigo’s antics. “Are you sure she’ll live the night without her phone? I don’t mind if you want to cancel our date to be with them. I wouldn’t want to come between you and your friends-”

“No!” Ichigo all but gasped. “Please, she’ll totally understand. I just want to be with you tonight.”

Shiro’s eyes softened. “Okay.” He grabbed his wallet and put it in his front pocket before extending his arm out to Ichigo.

Ichigo sighed to himself. He grabbed his wallet too, then linked arms with Shiro. They kept their arms loosely connected as Ichigo locked their door. Despite the fact that it was a hot evening outside, he didn’t mind the extra warmth from Shiro at all.

They separated once at the bus stop to make getting on the bus easier. Six stops later and they were at their destination.

Ichigo saw Shiro’s face light up, but he wasn't looking at the movie theatre. “Oh my god, Ichigo, can we get pizza?”

The orange-head smirked. “Are you paying?”

Shiro leaned into Ichigo, sliding an arm around his waist. “I have the money."

Ichigo gasped slightly. "Wait! I was just kidding, I'm not going to make you pay!" Ichigo brought a hand up to scratch the back of his head. "Except... I don't really have money for both pizza and theatre snacks."

"What, medical school not as cheap as you thought it’d be?” Shiro grinned.

Ichigo tried desperately to calm the blush crawling across his face. “Sh-Shut it. I can’t help that I’m flat broke. How are you living so luxuriously?”

“I have my ways. I worked for three years before coming to college and barely spent any of it. My program isn't too expensive, either. I also still have a part-time job.”

“Well, I knew about the part-time job,” Ichigo muttered. “But does it really pay enough for you to be able to afford all this? Shi, I have a part-time job too, and I can barely afford cereal and ramen.”

Shiro’s smirk softened. “Ichi, when I said you’re worth every penny, I meant it. Besides that, I was working full time for those three years, well above minimum wage I might add. School is taken care of already, thanks to my no-good Old Man, so I may as well spend my money on something I actually want to spend money on.”

“Oh,” Ichigo replied. Shiro barely spoke of his father, but from what Ichigo had gathered, Shiro’s father had left both him and his mother when Shiro was young. Then, randomly, 10 years later, Shiro and his mother inherited a large sum of money.

“Mom put away all that money in a savings account so that it would make some interest. She then gave that money to me when I graduated high school. I used that money to move us out of our old town and into Karakura.”

Ichigo noticed that Shiro's grin didn't falter nor did his voice shake when he spoke about thie piece of his past. If Ichigo had to guess, Shiro wasn't nearly as bothered with his father leaving as he was about his mother suffering. It was understandable, considering that Shiro was much closer to his mother. At least, that's what Ichigo gathered.

“I was able to get a job here,” Shiro continued. “I added the money I made to that savings account and earned interest each month. Then, because it made my mom happy, I came to this college to pursue art. My mother used to love whenever I painted something for her. It always made her smile.”

Ichigo slowly slid his arm around Shiro’s waist, mimicking Shiro's own position. “That sounds amazing, Shiro. You’re amazing.”

“Heh, sure am. Now let me buy my boyfriend dinner, hmm?”

Ichigo felt his cheeks grow warm. “Well, how the hell am I supposed to say ‘no’ now?”

Shiro’s grin grew, taking Ichigo’s response as a victory. He brought Ichigo into the restaurant and got a table for two.

Ichigo had never enjoyed eating pizza  _so_ much before. He laughed as cheese dripped from Shiro’s chin, and he blushed when he struggled to cut his pizza on his plate.

Shiro, noticing Ichigo struggle, put down his knife and fork and picked the pizza up with his hands.

Ichigo sighed in relief, “Oh thank god. I cannot eat pizza like a gentleman.”

“Aww, you don’t have to act all pretty for me, Ichi. I think you’re pretty even if you eat pizza like a savage,” Shiro teased.

“Haha…” Ichigo shook his head to clear his blush and he stuffed his face with pizza.

“This is a lot better than frozen stuff,” Shiro commented.

Ichigo nodded and groaned quietly as the cheese hit his pallet. God, it had been so long since he’d actually eaten out.

Shiro smirked at him from across the table. “I should take you out to eat more often.”

Ichigo shook his head. “No, Shiro, I’m broke and I would feel so bad if-”

Shiro laughed. “I told you, Ichigo. Money is not an issue. Besides, you deserve to be spoiled.”

Ichigo gulped down his last bite of pizza. “Shi… I don’t need fancy food or dates to be happy. I’m happy even just sitting together at home, studying or whatever…”

Shiro wiped his hands before sliding one in Ichigo’s. “Then our next date can be a study one, sound good?”

Ichigo blinked and nodded.

* * *

After some stubborn bickering, Ichigo managed to force Shiro to let him pay for their drinks, snacks, and popcorn. They settled into their seats and Ichigo immediately started munching on popcorn while he waited for the previews to end and movie to start.

As the lights dimmed, Ichigo noticed Shiro removing his glasses. He blinked, “Oh, yeah, guess you don’t need those in here.”

Shiro chuckled nervously, as though he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. “Oh, yeah, right. It’s dark enough that it shouldn’t bother my eyes.”

Ichigo nodded, satisfied with that answer.

Halfway through the movie, Ichigo reached into the bag of popcorn and his hand brushed against Shiro’s. Ichigo held his breath, taking a handful of popcorn and otherwise acting as though the unexpected touch hadn’t fazed him.

_ Holy shit, Ichigo, you’ve been holding his hand all night and yet, accidentally brushing your hand against his makes you embarrassed? Get a grip, get a grip, get a grip! _

Ichigo sensed more than felt Shiro leaning closer. Lips were at his ear, “Sorry about that, Ichigo.”

Ichigo gulped. “It’s fine.”

That familiar tingling sensation spread throughout Ichigo’s body and his skin felt like it was on fire, except, Ichigo had never felt like this with  _ Shiro  _ before. That burning passion had always been from Kishi’s teasing, never Shiro’s.

But, with Shiro, Ichigo didn’t feel so helpless to his own desires. He felt like he could push back, tease back, and not just be used.

So, this time, when their hands met reaching for their shared snacks, Ichigo turned to Shiro and pressed his lips next to Shiro’s ear, “Guess that’s my bad this time.”

He could almost see Shiro shiver.

Ichigo leaned back into his seat with a smirk. He crunched the few pieces of popcorn he managed to grab. Even though he was feeling quite confident, a blush spread across his cheeks. Thankfully, in the dark of the theatre, Shiro couldn’t see it.

* * *

“That was really nice, Ichigo,” Shiro mumbled on their bus ride home.

Ichigo leaned against Shiro. “It was, and we should do it again sometime.”

Shiro snorted. “I thought you wanted to save money?”

“Sure I do. We don’t have to go every week, Shi. Maybe once every few months, whenever there’s a movie that interests both of us.”

Ichigo felt Shiro move, and with that movement, Shiro’s hair brushed against Ichigo’s neck. Ichigo gulped and suppressed his shiver.

Shiro smirked, but if he had noticed the goosebumps spreading across Ichigo’s skin, he didn’t comment on them. “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, Ichigo.”

They linked hands just as their stop was announced. Ichigo stood first, seeing as how he was half on Shiro, and he was careful not to bend Shiro’s arm in an awkward position. They shuffled to the door and waited for the bus to stop.

Shiro glanced at Ichigo, and Ichigo glanced back. Then they both chuckled and then shyly looked away. It was confusing for Ichigo. He felt so confident when he was around Shiro, and yet he always had butterflies in his stomach.

They climbed off the bus, hands still linked, and made their way back to their dorm. Only there did their hands come undone, since Ichigo needed both hands in order to fumble around for his key. Ichigo unlocked the door and flicked on the lights.

He sighed as the silence of their dorm greeted them both.

“Well,” Ichigo mumbled, “I guess this is goodnight.”

Shiro nodded. “You have class early tomorrow, yeah?”

Ichigo nodded. “Only one class.” He stretched out, not missing the slight dip in Shiro’s head as the other obviously took in the view of Ichigo’s exposed abs. Not that Ichigo minded in the slightest, seeing as how Shiro had already seen his entire torso when they went to the beach.

“Do you want to do anything in the afternoon?” Shiro asked.

Ichigo felt a yawn escape his lips before he could answer. He slowly shook his head, “Sorry, Shi, midterms are coming up and-”

“Say no more,” Shiro smirked. “You need to study. I’ll buy study food. What do you like to eat?”

Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck. “When I’m studying? I’ll eat just about anything, but… when I’m stress eating, I usually consume an inhuman amount of chocolate.”

Shiro laughed softly. “Chocolate. Gotcha.”

Ichigo watched Shiro’s hips sway as he wandered to his room. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, Ichi. Have a good rest, okay? Fuck, you deserve it, you’re not getting any younger, yanno? And those bags under your eyes will become permanent if you don’t get some sleep.”

“Alright, alright, thanks for caring.”

“Anytime.” Shiro opened his door.

“Goodnight, Shi…”

“Night, Ichi.”

Ichigo watched Shiro disappear behind his door. As soon as Shiro was out of sight, Ichigo released a deep breath. Damn, that day had been exhausting, but it was a refreshing type of exhausting. He had actually enjoyed himself the entire time he was with Shiro and he felt so mentally recharged it was almost a relief.

Ichigo rubbed his eyes and then reached for a glass of water. After chugging the whole thing, he slipped away into his room and dropped onto his bed. He felt himself giggle, before he silenced the noises, lest Shiro hear. He grabbed his blanket and curled up into a ball on his bed. Ichigo buried his face in his pillow, along with his ear to ear grin.

His chest was bubbling with excitement. He smiled as he drifted into a pleasant sleep, for once, his thoughts as far away from Kishi as they could ever be.


	6. Sleepwalker

Somewhere around 3:30 am, Ichigo Kurosaki jumped out of bed. Anxiety had been eating away at his dreams for half an hour, but it was only a thought he just recently had that actually caused him to wake up...  _ Someone had called for Yasashi’s help. _

Ichigo, slowly returning to his senses, realized that he was in his dorm room and would wake Shiro if he was too loud. He slid out of bed and grabbed Yasashi’s phone from his bag. He then moved to the window. It was easy enough for him to open it quietly and then move at a speed no human eye could detect - effectively leaving his room without anyone noticing.

Once he found himself somewhere that no one would bat an eye at him being there so early in the morning, Ichigo dialed his voicemail and listened.

“Greetings, Yasashi. Don’t be alarmed, if you’re busy right now, that’s fine. This doesn’t require your immediate attention… We have reason to believe that there is no direct threat to Karakura Town as of right now.”

Ichigo breathed a short sigh of relief.

“That being said, we really need to talk. There is evidence that ‘he’ has returned, Yasashi. There is no sign of him setting foot in Karakura Town, but there’s talk growing that he’s building a following just like last time. They're called the ‘Espada’. Anyway, come to the station when you can and we’ll have a chat. Goodbye.”

Ichigo tired really hard to swallow past the lump in his throat, but it was a stubborn one. Stubborn, just like this villain that Ichigo had defeated again and again only to rise up like an immortal weed.

He gritted his teeth. If  _ Aizen  _ was back, that only spelled disaster.

Ichigo had defeated him twice in the past. Ichigo destroyed his army of Arrancar. Ichigo threw Aizen into jail. Aizen had broken free and Ichigo caught him again. They moved Aizen to a max security prison located somewhere that even Ichigo wasn’t aware of, but if Aizen had managed to break free from that place… and if Aizen was building another army…

Ichigo pushed his bangs out of his face. He was running out of options on how to deal with Aizen. Ichigo didn’t want to actually _ kill _ him, but the bastard was leaving him with no choice-

_ No. Let’s not jump to that. That’s my last resort. There has to be another way. _

Ichigo shook his head and made his way back to his dorm room, Ichigo fell onto his bed and sighed into his pillow. He wanted to sleep, he really did, but when it wouldn’t come to him he decided to use that time to study. Shiro found Ichigo on their couch the next morning, half awake and staring at a book.

“Coffee?” Shiro offered the orange-head.

Ichigo blinked and looked up at his roommate. Truth be told, Ichigo hadn’t even noticed that Shiro had gotten up or had coffee brewing.

Shiro approached him. “You don’t look too good, Ichigo. Are you okay? What’s eating you?”

Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes. “Just… stuff.” He closed the textbook he’d been reading - if staring at the same page for half an hour really counted as reading.

“When’s your next class?” Shiro asked, sensing that Ichigo didn’t really feel like talking about what was bothering him, and he didn’t blame the man.

Ichigo rubbed his eyes at the question. He opened his phone to check the time. It was approaching 7:15. “My class is at 8:00. I have to leave in 25 minutes.”

“How long is your class?”

“Three hours.” Ichigo let his phone fall onto his lap.

Shiro slid onto the couch beside Ichigo, requiring that he move Ichigo’s legs. Ichigo shifted to give the other room, but Shiro yanked Ichigo right back into his slouched position.

In the end, Ichigo ended up with his legs on Shiro and his head resting against the armrest.

“How important is today’s class?” Shiro asked.

Ichigo blinked up at him. “How important? What do you mean? All my classes are important.”

Shiro hummed and rested his arms on Ichigo’s legs. “That’s not what I’m asking, Ichigo. Can you afford to miss this class?”

Ichigo frowned and moved to sit up when Shiro leaned over and placed a hand on Ichigo’s chest to keep him down.

Ichigo pouted, “Shiro, I _have_ to go.”

Shiro shook his head. “You’re exhausted, Ichi. You’ll fall asleep halfway through. You may as well stay here and rest.”

Ichigo huffed. “It’s just one class. It’ll be over at 11:00 and then I’ll come back and sleep.”

“You and I both know that’s not true,” Shiro replied with a slight smirk to his lips. “You’ll come back here after class or you’ll go to the library to sit and study. I’ll come home at 7:00 and you’ll still have your nose in a book.”

“Because I have midterms-”

“They aren’t as important your health,” Shiro cut him off.

Shiro leaned back and Ichigo immediately missed the heat of the other’s hand on his chest. Ichigo moved his feet off of Shiro’s lap, fast enough so that Shiro couldn’t keep them locked there any longer. Ichigo manoeuvred around so that he leaned against Shiro and Shiro could only chuckle.

“Now, now, don’t be going cute on me, Ichigo. That’s not going to change my mind.”

“Mm, that wasn’t my intention,” Ichigo replied, slowly looking into Shiro’s eyes. “But I suppose I could give you my cutest puppy-dog eyes and see if that breaks you.”

Shiro slid his arms around Ichigo. “Hah, nice try, but your eyes look too exhausted for that trick to work. I know you need rest, so just take a you-day.”

Ichigo huffed. “Shiro, I really can’t. I can’t miss anything before midterms start. It could all be on my tests.”

Shiro removed one arm from around Ichigo in order to start combing his fingers through Ichigo’s hair. “Not even if… I make it worth your time?”

Ichigo felt his eyes threaten to close before he snapped them open again. “And… how would you do that?”

“Hot chocolate, a little scalp massage, some comfy pillows and a blanket? And I’ll even quiz you for your midterms after my second class.”

Ichigo melted, slightly, against the hand in his hair. “So, you’re still going to go to class, even if I don’t?”

“Well, I could skip my classes too, but I figured you would insist that at least I go since I actually slept last night.”

Ichigo shot a scowl at Shiro when he couldn’t come up with words to argue Shiro’s point. He huffed and turned away. “I promise that I’ll get some sleep on the weekend, Shiro, but please… release me so that I can go to class. I really need to be there if I’m going to have any hope of being as good a doctor as my dad, however, if you hold onto me for any longer then I might seriously give in and just fall asleep...”

As much as Shiro wanted to hug Ichigo a little tighter, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The sorrow in Ichigo’s voice felt like a dagger in Shiro’s chest, and as much as Ichigo needed rest, maybe he needed a supportive boyfriend a bit more right now. Shiro released Ichigo and watched the other pack up and get ready for class.

“Have a good day, alright?”

Ichigo blinked and turned towards Shiro. With a small smile and renewed strength in his eyes, Ichigo said, “Thanks. You have a good day too.”

Shiro watched Ichigo leave. He sighed as the silence of their dorm seemed to haunt him.

Then Shiro’s phone buzzed and he frowned at who texted him:  Grimmjow.

* * *

A week prior to midterms was a rough week for Ichigo. He woke up early every morning to study, and then he stayed out late with some people in his program in order to study some more.

Shiro found him alone in the library a few times - apparently, Ichigo stayed out longer than even his classmates cared to.

“What am I going to do with you?” Shiro asked with a chuckle before he lifted Ichigo out of his seat and ushered him home.

Midterms week itself flew by. Ichigo was in robot mode. It kind of scared Shiro how predictable and programmed Ichigo’s actions became.

Wake up at 6:00 am. Make toast and coffee. Disappear to his room and study until it was time to leave. Go complete a midterm, then return. Collapse onto the couch and become an exhausted blanket burrito. Study until 9:30 pm - then argue with Shiro about getting some sleep. Study some more until 11:00 pm before Shiro took the book away and carried Ichigo into his bedroom.

Rinse and repeat for five days.

“Jeez, Ichigo, how bad are midterms for your program?”

“They're fine…”

Shiro rolled his eyes. For Shiro, midterms looked something like a couple big projects and a lot of complicated concepts that he needed to learn. Ichigo looked like death, and Shiro wondered if his program wasn’t actually just trying to kill him - weed out the weak.

Soon, but not soon enough, it was Saturday. Shiro woke up at 11:00 am and wandered out into the kitchen. He expected to see Ichigo already awake and sitting in the kitchen or on the couch, but his roommate was nowhere to be seen.

Shiro shrugged. It wasn’t completely unusual for Ichigo to be out this early on the weekend. He was a little concerned, however, because it was unlike Ichigo to not tell Shiro that he was going out. Then, Shiro spotted Ichigo’s keys on the counter.

Shiro blinked. He moved towards his roommate’s door and pressed his ear against it. He could hear… snoring? “Ichi? You in there?”

“Huh?” Came a muffled response.

“Can I open the door?”

“Mnn… yeah?”

Ichigo blinked awake as Shiro entered his room. The orange head stretched out and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Shiro snorted at the sight. His roommate’s hair was a mess - flattened on the left side and in tangles on the other. Shiro chuckled to himself, trying to hold back his laughter.

Brown eyes narrowed on the pale man. “What?”

That’s when Shiro’s eyes shut beneath his sunglasses and he brought a hand to his lips. He tried to hold back his laughter before he suddenly burst into hysterics.

“What?” Ichigo asked, shifting in his bed to sit up properly. Ichigo found himself laughing a little too. “Shiro?”

“I’m sorry, Ichigo,” Shiro snorted. “I’m just not used to seeing you like this.”

Ichigo pouted. “Like what?”

Shiro released a deep breath and stepped a little closer to the moody orange-head. “Well, for one, you look well-rested.”

“Oh, haha, bite me, Shiro.”

Shiro’s lips quirked. “You know, I just might.”

Ichigo scooted away from Shiro as Shiro jumped on Ichigo’s bed. Ichigo just about squealed (though he wouldn’t ever admit it) when Shiro caught him and dragged him back. Ichigo hummed a little when Shiro pulled him against his chest.

“I think I’m gonna sleep some more,” Ichigo muttered.

“Yeah, you’d better.”

Ichigo chuckled a little.

“Oh… When do you get your marks back?”

“Two Wednesdays from now,” Ichigo replied with a long yawn. “And I also get a three-day weekend to start off next week.”

“Sounds nice.”

“Mhm…” Ichigo slid an arm around Shiro’s waist, hugging him a little closer. “Mn… Shi, is it too late to cash in on that scalp massage?”

Shiro moved a hand up to brush through Ichigo’s hair. “Of course not, Ichi. Anytime you want one, just let me know. Of course, you’re going to have to let go of me if you want one now.”

“...” Ichigo smirked. “Maybe in an hour…”


	7. Love Me Like That

Toshiro called Ichigo just as his last class had been wrapping up. Ichigo apologized about completely forgetting that Toshiro needed to speak with him (he was little preoccupied with midterms, but fortunately he didn’t have to explain anything to Toshiro, who simply took his word that he was ‘busy’ and told him not to worry about it). Then Ichigo texted Shiro he would be late before attending what would be a short, efficient, and yet stressful meeting.

The orange-head sighed as he tried to ease himself of so many thoughts - none of which were the slightest bit good. One worry came to mind after another. Turns out, with or without his help, Toshiro was pursuing any and all leads pertaining to Aizen and his new Espada. They managed to catch one, some pink-haired man, and they were interrogating him. Ichigo knew that they’d get absolutely no information from him, however. That was how Aizen’s power worked.

_ Stop thinking about it,  _ Ichigo scolded himself as he stepped up to the door of his dorm room. Ichigo slowly twisted the handle and opened the door. It was dark inside. He rubbed his eyes then checked his phone. It wasn’t even 5 pm yet - so it shouldn’t be dark already. The door wasn't locked which meant Shiro should be home. So, why was it dark inside?

He stepped further into the room, about to turn on the lights when flickering caught Ichigo’s attention. He glanced into the kitchen where he saw two candles sitting on the table. Ichigo blinked. “What’s… this?”

More lights suddenly came on - beautiful, twinkling white Christmas lights. Brown eyes found his roommate, who stood in the centre of all the lights. Shiro gave Ichigo a gentle grin. “Surprise! Isn’t today when you get your midterm marks back? Ichigo Kurosaki, top of his class, graduating college and becoming the world’s greatest doctor!”

Ichigo blushed. “I don’t know about that… I… You...” Ichigo shook his head and dropped his bag on the sofa. He smiled as he stepped into the kitchen. “You’re unbelievable, Shiro. You know that?”

“Unbelievably handsome, you might say. Perhaps even the greatest boyfriend in the universe?” Shiro hummed, stepping close to the orangette.

Ichigo blushed and hugged Shiro, dodging Shiro’s lips. He didn’t think Shiro was going in for the kiss, but he also didn’t want to risk it. Something didn’t feel right about kissing Shiro yet.

Guilt washed over Ichigo. The truth about Kishi wanted to burst out of him, but Ichigo didn’t want Shiro to be upset with him. Not that this was any better - what with Ichigo avoiding all the attempts Shiro was making at moving their relationship to the next stage.

He owed Shiro a kiss, Ichigo decided. They had been dating for about a month now... longer, if you counted how long they’d each been trying to ask the other out. Ichigo slid out of Shiro’s arms and offered him a soft smile. He couldn’t see through Shiro’s glasses, but he had a feeling that, in Shiro’s eyes, he might find disappointment.

Ichigo gulped down his guilt and then sat at the table. “So, what did you make for tonight? Something smells absolutely amazing.”

“Well, some spicy chicken and rice… a bit of corn and peppers too. The fanciest dinner a college student can buy,” Shiro smirked. He slowly removed the lids from the containers.

“On a budget or not, I’m sure it’s delicious," Ichigo said.

“Oh, the desert definitely will be. I saved all my money for that.”

Ichigo started eating. He tried to think of something to say. He could talk about his college class, or maybe he should check his midterm marks… Then, finally, Ichigo murmured, “This is really awesome, Shiro. Where did you learn to cook like this?”

“My mom taught me,” Shiro replied.

Ichigo gulped down a bite of chicken before he nodded. “My mom taught me a few things too, you know… before she passed away.”

Shiro slowly nodded. “I bet you miss her.”

Ichigo picked at his rice. “Yeah, a lot, actually.”

“She would be proud of you,” Shiro added, reaching across the table to take Ichigo’s hand.

Ichigo felt his bottom lip quiver. “Thanks… Shi.”

He quickly stuffed his mouth with food before his trembling could be noticed. They continued eating in silence. Ichigo finished first, then waited for Shiro to be done. Shiro stood and collected the dishes. The agonizing silence continued.

Ichigo gulped as Shiro placed the dishes into the sink. “Hey, Shi?”

Shiro spun around. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry,” Ichigo murmured.

The other froze. “For what?”

Ichigo sighed and shuffled out of his chair. He stepped up close to Shiro. “I haven’t been nearly as dedicated to our relationship as you have. Earlier tonight, you tried to kiss me, and I avoided it. I’ve been struggling with commitment issues and, well, that’s not really an excuse.”

Shiro shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, Ichi. You’re a man worth waiting for if you want to take things slow. There’s no rush if you’re not feeling it.”

“But I do have feelings for you!” Ichigo all but shouted. He saw Shiro flinch and he lowered his voice. “I want you to know that I’m serious, so… from now on, I’m putting all my doubt aside and focusing on you. I really like you, Shiro, and I want us to work out. I want that so badly.”

Ichigo felt his hands shaking. Shiro slowly took them. “I want that too, Ichigo.”

Ichigo nodded and squeezed Shiro’s hands back. Shiro slid one of his hands out of Ichigo’s grasp, moving it up to cup Ichigo’s cheek.

“May I kiss you, Ichigo?”

Ichigo leaned into Shiro’s touch. “Yes.”  _ God, yes, please do... _

Shiro brushed his hand through Ichigo’s hair, then he brought his hand to his face and removed his sunglasses, placing them on the kitchen table. Shiro kept his eyes pointed to the ground as he turned back to Ichigo, before shutting his eyes and leaning in.

He felt Shiro’s breath against his cheek. Ichigo closed his eyes as their lips touched.

It was soft, at first. Then Ichigo felt that burning passion grow within him and he pushed a little deeper. He felt Shiro return the kiss. The other’s tongue touched Ichigo’s bottom lip, asking permission, and Ichigo readily allowed the other entrance.

Something clicked in the back of Ichigo’s mind. Shiro’s lips felt so good and so… Ichigo couldn’t quite place it. 

He moaned as Shiro’s hand found his hip and squeezed, Shiro’s other hand locking fingers with Ichigo’s hand in an even tighter grip than before, yet no less gentle.

Ichigo gasped quickly for air when Shiro pulled back, and then the two locked their lips again. Ichigo held back the groan growing in his throat. Shiro’s taste was so sinfully sweet, and so god damn familiar.

Ichigo gasped and took a large step back, yet kept his hand locked in Shiro’s. He saw Shiro’s eyes glowing in the dim light.

“Ichi?” came the tender question. “Everything okay?”

Ichigo squeezed Shiro’s hand. “Y-You. . . reminded me of someone, that’s all.”

Shiro raised his right brow. “I did? Who?”

Ichigo gulped and looked over Shiro’s expression. He realized that this was the first time he was looking into Shiro’s eyes without gazing through his glasses. Ichigo felt his stomach clench. It couldn’t be. Shiro’s features were too soft, too gentle… But his eyes looked so much like...

“Come now, Ichi. . .” Shiro murmured. “Ya look like ya’ve seen a ghost.”

Ichigo’s eyes widened.  _ That accent. . . _

* * *

“Kishi?”

“Hmm?” Kishi looked over at his lover, who was fidgeting in the moonlight. “Yasashi… is somethin’ troubling ya?”

Ichigo gulped. “Well, yes, and no, and I mean…”

Kishi placed a hand on Ichigo’s shoulder. “Ya know you can talk to me ‘bout anythin’, King.”

Ichigo frowned at the nickname. God, that word always promised him so much pleasure, but now it just made him feel…  _ guilty.  _ “Kishi, I’m sorry, but I…”

Kishi chuckled. “You finally found someone else, eh?”

Ichigo flinched.

“Don’ worry ‘bout it. I knew it was comin’ eventually. You an’ me, we’re fighters, not lovers.”

_ And, besides that, I don’t deserve ya,  _ Kishi thought.

Ichigo sighed and placed a hand on Kishi’s. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to drag it on or mislead you or anything. It’s just, I want to be committed to him…”

Kishi cackled. “Oh~! It’s a ‘him’, is it?”

Ichigo blinked.

“I must find ou’ who ‘he’ is, Yasashi~! Who is worthy of the heart of Karakura’s protector? Who is my competition?”

“C-Competition!?” Ichigo sputtered.

Kishi snorted. “Nah, I’m just kiddin’, Yasashi. I told ya, righ’ from tha start, ya didn’ have ta worry ‘bout bein’ committed tah me. And you agreed this would only be temporary.”

“I know…” Ichigo sighed, “but I didn’t expect…”

_ I didn’t expect that I’d actually grow feelings for you, stupid Kishi. _

* * *

“I-It is you!”

Shiro blinked, a tremor of fear rippling through him. Was Ichigo onto his secret? How could Ichigo possibly know?

“You’re Kishi, aren’t you?”

Shiro’s expression darkened, and suddenly Ichigo recognized the eyes he’d looked into so many times, the eyes that glowed in the dark and the white hair which appeared blue in the faint moonlight.

“And how did you know tha’?” Shiro questioned, accent intentional this time.

“B-Because...”

_ This is it,  _ Ichigo thought.  _ What do I do? Throw caution to the wind? Confess who I am? Would Shiro still love me... or am I just a toy to Kishi? Is that all I’ve ever been - just a toy, temporary amusement? Shiro wouldn’t use me, would he? Or would he just not use ‘Ichigo’? _

Ichigo closed his eyes, fighting against his doubt while he held back tears. He felt Shiro’s tender touch on his cheek and he hiccupped. Shiro’s thumb wiped away Ichigo’s first tear.

“Ichi, can ya still love a man like me?”

Brown eyes snapped open. He could see both in Shiro now, Kishi’s madness and Shiro’s tenderness. Ichigo pressed his hand against Shiro’s chest.

It was suddenly all clear. Shiro was still the good man he fell in love with, as well as the villain he had the hots for.

Ichigo blushed furiously as it dawned on him all those times were with Shiro.

“Oh my god,” Ichigo laughed. “I can’t believe this. I can’t fucking believe this.”

Shiro’s concerned frown only deepened. “Ichigo, are you alright? I can go. If I’m bothering you, I’ll leave right now and you’ll never have to worry ‘bout me again.”

Ichigo couldn’t keep himself from laughing. “It’s been you this whole time? Talk about falling in love for the same person twice.”

When Shiro still seemed to not get it, Ichigo rolled his eyes. He turned on the light switch and then blew out the candles - just in case he forgot to later (he had a feeling they were in for a long chat that night).

“Ichigo?”

“Don’t move,” Ichigo said softly. He shuffled through the bag he’d dropped onto the couch earlier that night. He pulled out his laptop and his class notes, carefully setting them on the coffee table in the living room. Then he unzipped a secret zipper, turned the back upside-down, and let his costume fall onto the floor near Shiro’s feet.

Shiro’s eyes widened and froze that way for about a minute. He knelt down to the pick up the helmet. He held it in front of Ichigo’s face, then he let it fall back to the ground with the rest of Ichigo’s costume.

“Ya mean… you’re…?” Shiro shook his head then started laughing too. “Fuckin’ hell.”

Golden eyes narrowed as a grin split pale lips. The face that had been missing from all those times together was finally filled in for Ichigo, and Shiro was beautiful. Yet the grin still inflicted a sort-of terrified excitement in Ichigo’s gut.

“Sh-Shi?”

Shiro stalked towards him, that same animalistic nature that Ichigo saw in Kishi now coming out in Shiro. Ichigo’s entire body filled with excitement as he was pinned against the couch. Ichigo groaned under that force, the familiar tight grip from Kishi blending with the gentle, concerned touch from Shiro.

Their lips met. Now  _ that  _ kiss blew the last one completely out of the water.

Ichigo was panting by the time Shiro leaned back.

Shiro gazed into brown eyes. “Yer much more handsome than I imagined.”

“So are you… and your eyes… they’re stunning.”

“Thank you, Ichigo…” Shiro smirked and wrapped his legs around Ichigo’s waist. Shiro could feel Ichigo’s pulse quicken.

“Shi, what are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious? God, Ichi, I wanna fuck ya righ’ now. I wanna see tha pleasure fill your eyes as ya scream my name, my  _ real  _ name.”

Ichigo shivered and his hands quickly found Shiro’s hips. He could feel Shiro’s hands move under his shirt, nails biting at his skin.

“Oh my god, this is not how I expected this evening to go at all.”

Shiro chuckled. “Well, that makes two of us.”

Ichigo grabbed Shiro’s wrists. “Okay, but if we’re doing this, then it’s happening in a bed and  _ you’re  _ the one who’s giving me a massage tomorrow morning, not another one of your damn coupons.”

“So cute.” Shiro backed off the couch and extended a hand to Ichigo. “Want me ta make waffles in the morning too?”

“Oh my god, if you make waffles, I’ll marry you.” Ichigo took Shiro’s hand.

“Sounds like a fuckin’ plan.” Shiro yanked Ichigo to his feet. He brought Ichigo to his room, surprised when Ichigo made the first move and pinned Shiro against his bed. The orange-head hovered over Shiro, gazing down at him with heated brown eyes.

Shiro wrapped his hands around Ichigo’s hips. “Oh, Ichi, I should’ve known…”

Ichigo blinked. “What?”

“You deserve a lover’s touch. I could never give you tha’ as Kishi.”

Ichigo felt heat spread down his neck. “That doesn’t matter, Shiro-”

“It  _ does _ matter.” Shiro leaned forward so that Ichigo now sat on his lap. “I promise, this time we’ll make love properly. I’ve even got lube in the drawer.” He pointed to the table near his bed.

Ichigo laughed softly. “Of course you do.” He wanted to say more to convince Shiro that their rough love-making before hadn’t bothered him, but how could he when Shiro started placing gentle kisses down his neck?

Shiro slid his hands under Ichigo’s shirt again. He stopped kissing Ichigo’s neck so the orange-head could remove his shirt. The moment it was gone, Shiro’s lips were on Ichigo again. Shiro’s hands, dangerously skilled for poor Ichigo, began to massage Ichigo’s hips and lower back. Ichigo felt heat pooling down below. Shit, he was feeling so hot that it almost hurt.

Ichigo whined when Shiro’s hands dropped down low, sliding beneath his boxers to massage a tan ass. Ichigo began grinding against Shiro, desperate for more.

“My, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you come so undone so quickly.”

Half of Shiro’s sentence didn’t register until several seconds later. Ichigo choked out a soft moan. “I’ve never needed you this badly before.”

Shiro grinned at the work of art in front of him. Damn, just seeing Ichigo come undone was enough to stir Shiro’s erection too. But his poor Ichigo wasn’t going to last for much longer. That was fine. Shiro was perfectly happy to make his King release twice this evening.

Shiro brushed Ichigo’s hair from his face. “Strip. All of it, off now. I wanna see ya.”

Ichigo shivered at the command. He forced himself away from Shiro, kicking away his boxers and pants. When he returned to the bed, Shiro had the bottle of lube out on the side table. Shiro abandoned it for now and wrapped his hand around Ichigo’s erection. He started stroking.

As they met for another kiss, Shiro could feel Ichigo bucking into his hand. Ichigo kissed Shiro, deep and desperate, before needing to part for air. “Shiro, haaah, I’m gonna…”

That was as much warning as Shiro was going to get before Ichigo released against him. After half a minute, Ichigo panted a “Sorry…”

Shiro kissed his forehead. “It’s alright, Ichigo. I’m perfectly happy to make you do that as many times as you want.”

“Hah… bastard,” Ichigo spat.

Shiro watched the way Ichigo panted, his breathing still fast and erratic. Shiro raised a concerned brow. “Are you alright, Ichigo?”

Ichigo nodded. He shifted himself around on the bed until his weight was settled in the centre of the bed and Shiro was sitting between his legs. “I think I grew so accustomed to rough touches and sex on the rough ground, my body just isn’t used to gentle touches. But god, Shiro, I needed that so badly. I need you so badly. I’m so glad we finally get a chance to do this properly.”

Shiro nodded. “Me too, Ichi... It always stung me to know that I was hurtin’ ya.”

Ichigo shook his head. “No, it didn’t hurt, I swear. Not too badly anyway. It was worth it.  _ You  _ are worth it all.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Shiro murmured.

Ichigo smiled and sat up. He caught Shiro’s lips in a kiss that lasted just long enough for Ichigo to undo the zipper on Shiro’s pants. He and Shiro stood, and Ichigo helped Shiro remove his pants. But when Ichigo dropped to the floor, he didn’t come back up. Instead, he flashed Shiro a grin that rivalled the villain’s.

“Ichigo?”

Ichigo smirked and gripped Shiro’s hips. “I want to make you feel good too, Shiro.”

Shiro shivered at the look in Ichigo’s eyes. He threw his head back when Ichigo licked the head of his member teasingly. “I-Ichi,” Shiro gasped, unprepared for the sudden contact.

Ichigo smiled and went for a deeper taste, bringing the whole of Shiro’s head into his mouth.

“Agh,  _ fuck. . . _ ”

His tongue swirled around Shiro’s tip, slowly, to draw out the deepest of his lover’s moans.

Ichigo felt Shiro’s hand in his hand. “K-King...”

Ichigo groaned softly at the nickname. Memories of those sinful nights with Kishi rushed to the surface of Ichigo’s thoughts.

Shiro’s distinct, low cackle reached Ichigo’s ears. Blushing and confused, Ichigo leaned back.

“What?” Ichigo asked. He shivered as Shiro dragged his fingernails across his scalp and down the back of his neck.

Shiro smirked. “D’ya like it when I call ya tha’,  _ King _ ?”

Ichigo felt a spark of pleasure crawl up his spine.

“Oh,” Shiro moaned, dragging Ichigo closer again, “ya totally do. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Sh-Shut up,” Ichigo muttered, hands trailing the sides of Shiro’s legs.

Shiro cackled and brushed a tender hand through Ichigo's hair. “Nah, I like callin’ ya that, an’ I'll do it more often. Yer fuckin’ hot, and so damn cute, Ichigo.”

“I am  _ not _ cute,” Ichigo muttered, nails biting Shiro’s skin almost threateningly.

Shiro hissed, but the grin never left his face. “Yer so…” His words trailed off as he lifted Ichigo to his feet. “So hot, Ichi.”

They shared a short, gentle kiss.

“I'm so happy that it turned out to be ya. I love both sides of my Ichi. The sweet, hard-working college student who tries his best to be good at everything, and then the bravest, dirtiest man in Karakura who gets my heart racing and sets my blood on fire.”

Ichigo arched his back as Shiro’s nails moved down his spine. Shiro chuckled and sucked on Ichigo's neck, drawing a gasp from the flabbergasted orange-head.

He placed his lips at Ichigo's ear, “Though, we can keep yer dark side between you an’ me, how's tha’ sound?”

“ _ Fuck, _ ” Ichigo moaned, “Shiro!” His nails dug into Shiro’s shoulders. “You’re the reason that dark side exists, you know that right? I never did anything like this before you came along.”

Shiro licked his lips. “I’m more than happy to bow to yer darkest desires,  _ King _ .”

Ichigo gulped when he found himself wanting  _ exactly  _ what Shiro was suggesting.

Then, with a deep grin, Shiro lifted Ichigo up and placed him on the bed. He grabbed the lube and spread it over his fingers. “I’m all for foreplay, Ichigo, but now I just… I need to take ya.”

Ichigo nodded. “I need you in me, Shiro. So badly.”

With a teasing bow, Shiro murmured, “As m’King wishes.”

“St-Stop calling me that!” Ichigo gasped just as the first finger entered him.

Shiro purred and teased Ichigo’s skin some more, licking his thigh. “But King, the deep shade of red you turn every time I call ya by that name is so adorable. I can’t resist teasin' ya.”

Ichigo’s protest was cut off by another deep gasp as Shiro added a second finger. He moaned and clenched around Shiro.

“That’s it, Ichi, just enjoy it,” Shiro hummed.

Ichigo began to relax and didn’t flinch as much when Shiro added another finger. Soon, the pain was too numb, and the pleasure wasn’t enough. “I need you, please, hurry up!”

“So demandin’.” Shiro grinned and removed his fingers. He placed a kiss on Ichigo’s lips. “I love that you’re crazy for me.”

Ichigo blushed and helped to position himself. “And I love that you make me crazy for you.”

Shiro snickered before thrusting in. He moaned against Ichigo as the orangette clamped down around him. The lube was much nicer than any makeshift lube Shiro had used in the past, and it honestly brought their sex to a whole new level.

“Ha-ah,” Ichigo panted, “Shiro, please,  _ move _ .”

Shiro started with a hurried pace right from the start. Ichigo moaned with each thrust, his legs moving in time with Shiro in order to get him deeper. Each time Shiro filled him made Ichigo feel more complete. He felt a hand begin to stroke him. Ichigo arched as he knew his climax was approaching. “Shiro! F-Fuck! I’m coming!”

Shiro nodded. “Me too, Ichi, me too.”

Ichigo moaned and tightened his grip on the bedsheets, feeling all his muscles tighten. He released first, climaxing with a cry of Shiro’s name. The whole thing sent Shiro over the edge as well. He released within Ichigo and moaned the other’s name. Ichigo blushed, hearing his name screamed so passionately made his head buzz with a swarm of emotions that he couldn’t begin to describe.

They both moaned as Shiro pulled out. Shiro climbed up next to Ichigo in his bed and held him tight. “Yer mine now, berry,” he murmured against Ichigo’s hair.

“You were mine first,” Ichigo replied, a slight tease despite his exhaustion. Shiro chuckled and hugged Ichigo closer.

An hour passed when Shiro murmured, “Shower?”

Ichigo mumbled, “Yes, please.”

Shiro nudged him. “You’re gonna have ta move.”

“You’re gonna have to carry me…” Ichigo replied.

Shiro snickered and scooped Ichigo into his arms. Ichigo yelped and clung to Shiro, now wide awake. “H-Hey!”

“I’m just doing as his majesty ordered.”

Ichigo frowned at Shiro as he carried him into the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, Shiro decided that a bath would be better suited since Ichigo still seemed too exhausted to stand for long. Ichigo might’ve been born with super strength, but that didn’t mean sex didn’t tire him out, especially after so many sleepless nights...

Ichigo was perfectly happy to lay against Shiro and let the other take care of him for a while.


	8. Anything For You

When Ichigo woke, it was just as the sun was begging to lift off of the horizon. Ichigo groaned as he slowly stretched out, discovering that Shiro was no longer beside him. He blinked and looked around, but ultimately decided that he was too comfortable to bother getting up. He fell back asleep.

Half an hour later, he could smell waffles and, as the reason behind the smell dawned on Ichigo, he chuckled to himself. He climbed to a seated position, the soreness in his back and rear suddenly obvious. Ichigo glanced around for his clothes only to find that they had been removed from the floor. Scowling, Ichigo wrapped himself in a blanket and wobbled out of the bedroom in search for the one Ichigo knew was guilty of hiding his clothes.

“Good mornin’, my King,” Shiro hummed from their shared kitchen.

“Don’t call me that so casually, asshole,” Ichigo muttered as he plopped himself down on the couch.

Shiro snorted and sat next to Ichigo with a plate of waffles. “Now, now, don’t be like tha’.”

Ichigo rolled his eyes and glanced at the plate.

Shiro cut a piece with his fork and held it up to Ichigo’s lips.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. “You are not feeding me.”

Shiro shrugged. “I can make ya eat it, if that’s what ya want. You’ll find I can be very persuasive.” He winked at Ichigo.

“I don’t recall persuasiveness being one of your powers, _Kishi_.” Ichigo smirked.

Shiro scoffed. “Well, my dear _Yasashi_ , clearly you don’t know everything there is to know about me. Persuasiveness isn’t a power of mine, no, but I’m very stubborn and I will stand here all day until you take a bite.”

Ichigo’s stomach, as though it was conspiring against him, growled right at that moment. Shiro grinned and Ichigo glared at him. It wasn’t as though Ichigo had planned to continue fighting with Shiro, but he also didn’t want to lose in such a horrible way. With a pout and a huff, he placed a hand around Shiro’s and brought the fork to his mouth. He took the piece off the end, chewed, swallowed, then mumbled, “That’s... really good.”

“Thanks. Homemade.” Shiro placed the plate in front of Ichigo on the table and handed him the fork. Then, Shiro took his own plate of waffles and sat on the other side of the couch, one leg crossed over the other.

Once Ichigo had finished eating, the orange-head tidied his plate. He shuffled towards his room, one hand holding the blanket tight around his waist. Apparently, his grip on the blanket wasn’t strong enough as Shiro yanked the blanket right out of Ichigo’s hold.

“Sh-Shiro, I’m naked!” Ichigo yelped.

“An’ whose fault is tha’?”

Pink lips flattened into a rather harsh scowl. “It’s yours! You insisted that I sleep naked after our bath _and_ you stole my clothes from the floor!”

Shiro blinked as if he didn’t remember doing any of it.

“Uh, right.” Shiro grinned as he folded the blanket he’d stolen from Ichigo in half.

Ichigo turned towards his room. As he shut the door, Shiro stuck a food in its way.

“Lie down on your bed,” Shiro ordered. “I’m gonna give you that massage you wanted.”

Ichigo opened his mouth to protest, but the grin on Shiro’s lips and the playful fire in Shiro’s eyes had Ichigo’s heart beat a little faster. He thought the man was beautiful before, but now, with that dangerous undertone that made Ichigo weak in the knees, Shiro was positively stunning. And also irresistible.

Ichigo carefully lowered himself onto his bed.

Shiro slowly placed the folded blanket over Ichigo’s lower half, stopping only to place a kiss on a plump cheek.

Ichigo blushed and buried his face beneath his pillow.

“Y’know, for having a dom kink and for fighting villains on a regular basis, yer pretty bashful.”

“Shut up,” Ichigo muttered into his bed. “And I do not have a dom kink.”

“Whatever you say…” Shiro kissed Ichigo’s lower back and then kissed up between his shoulder blades. “King.”

The small groan Ichigo tried to keep hidden in his throat was all Shiro needed to hear.

Shiro chuckled before settling himself on top of Ichigo, planting his knees on either side of his berry to keep most of his weight off of him. Shiro used his knuckles to apply a light pressure on Ichigo’s lower back first, knowing it was going to be the worst. He gently kneaded the muscle, rolling closed fists around to get Ichigo used to the motion and touch.

Ichigo ‘hmm-ed’ a little, louder whenever Shiro pressed harder.

Shiro stopped and slid off Ichigo. “I’ll be right back, love. Let me get some lotion else your skin will get sore.”

“‘Kay...” Ichigo mumbled. He was drifting off in the warm sunlight when something cold landed on his back. “Eek!”

Shiro cackled.

“You bastard.”

“But ya love me, though.”

Ichigo glanced over his shoulder at Shiro. “I… I do, you know that, right? I really do love you… you and Kishi.”

Shiro locked eyes with Ichigo and gave him a grin before his focus returned to the lotion he was spreading across Ichigo’s skin. “Good… Because I love you too. The defender of Karakura and the student doctor. In both lives, no matter what, you choose to protect people. I admire that about ya, Ichi… more than you know.” He began to rub the lotion into Ichigo's lower back.

“I… ah… thanks, Shi.”

Shiro slowly worked his way up Ichigo’s back. He stopped near the other’s shoulders. There, he simply brushed his fingers over Ichigo’s skin, enjoying the feeling of Ichigo’s toned body beneath his fingertips.

Shiro could see a small, relaxed smile on Ichigo’s lips.

With a grin, Shiro leaned a little closer to Ichigo. His voice lowered to a half-whisper, half-growl, “Does it feel good, Ichigo?”

“Mn... yes,” Ichigo groaned.

Shiro smirked and moved his hands up the back of Ichigo’s neck, seeing the goosebumps appear on his lover’s skin. Shiro leaned back, teasing Ichigo with his nails (if only to draw a shudder from the man) before he started to massage Ichigo’s lower back again.

"Quit teasin'..." Ichigo muttered.

Shiro placed a kiss on the back of Ichigo's neck. "Never," he whispered.

“You spoil me,” Ichigo mumbled as he melted into his bed.

“You deserve to be spoiled.”

Ichigo opened his mouth to argue, but there was just something about Shiro’s aura... Even if every alarm in Ichigo’s head was ringing, telling Ichigo that he didn’t need anything, that he was just doing his duty as Karakura’s protector and as a college student, and that he didn’t need to be rewarded for any of it, Ichigo wanted to be spoiled by this man.

Then there was something else that Ichigo couldn't put his finger on, something that had drastically changed between the two. It definitely wasn't because of the sex, they'd been together plenty of times. Maybe it was the fact that the truth was out between them? Or maybe, as a result of the truth coming out, Ichigo felt like his vulnerabilities were exposed... but Shiro respected them. Perhaps it was that, then, a new and stronger form of respect had grown between himself and Shiro.

And then there was this new possessive twinge Ichigo felt. He most certainly wouldn't ever get jealous or aggressive because of it, but Shiro, well, Shiro was  _his._ Ichigo wanted everything that Shiro had to offer him. He wanted this man completely and wholly to himself. He knew that sounded selfish, but he couldn’t fight his desires. Not anymore.

“There ya go,” Shiro mumbled, noticing the tension fade from Ichigo’s shoulders. “Just relax. Let all that stress go away. Nothing can bother you now, love. Let it all go.”

As Ichigo’s stress faded, so too did his consciousness. He drifted into a nap under Shiro's protective watch. Eventually, Shiro slid off Ichigo and sat down on the bed next to him. The villain wasn't willing to let anyone touch his hero. If someone even tried-

He didn’t want to think about it.

Shiro relaxed, his fists unclenching, and a yawn escaped his lips. He raised his arms over his head and stretched out, then he slid into the bed next to Ichigo. Sure, Shiro had class in an hour, but that wasn’t worth giving up a warm nap with his lover.

Ichigo smiled and made room for Shiro, not opening his eyes lest he disturb his own nap. As soon as they were both comfortable, they drifted to sleep.

Ichigo blinked awake an hour later. “Shi, don't you have class?”

“Mm…” Shiro mumbled, not willing to wake up quite yet. “Sure, but yer worth skippin’ it.”

Ichigo huffed. “Shiro, that's super fucking sweet of you, but you shouldn't miss class because of me.”

Shiro chuckled. “Aww, Ichigo, it's adorable that you think I haven' skipped class ta be with ya b’fore.”

Ichigo scowled but couldn't deny the way his heart fluttered at that admission. “What? Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously. Even before we started dating. Or, yanno, ever since Kishi and Yasashi shared their first kiss. I skipped all kinds of classes to come see you.”

“I'm…” Ichigo rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand. “I’m flattered, honestly. And I may have skipped one or two classes to come see you too. Mostly lost sleep, though.”

Shiro’s own chuckle was cut short. A pale finger carefully trailed the bags under Ichigo’s eyes, though they looked much better after Ichigo had slept in and napped. Then Shiro’s hand moved down to find a deep scar on Ichigo's chest.

“Is tha’... from me?”

Ichigo frowned. “Shi, it's fine.”

“Nah, it's not. Oh my god, Ichi-”

“Shush.” Ichigo placed his hand on a scar that ran across Shiro's stomach. “This one's from me, isn't it? So, I'd say we're even.”

Shiro's fingers trailed Ichigo's scar once more. “Yeah, s'pose we are…” Something still bothered Shiro, though. It only made him even more upset when he couldn’t recall the actual moment he’d cut Ichigo. Shiro had hurt so many people - not that he necessarily felt bad for everyone he cut down, but Ichigo...

Ichigo opened his mouth to speak but his next words were cut off by a loud ringing. He jumped out of bed and found his phone.

“Hello?”

“Ichigo, Orihime and I just had a really great idea!”

Ichigo winced. If Rukia and Orihime had joined forces and came up with an idea, it definitely wasn’t going to be a great one. “An idea, huh? Is this going to go as well as your last idea?”

“Shut up. You know things would’ve gone better if my supplier gave me Chappy fireworks instead of-”

“I know, I know,” Ichigo sighed. “What’s your idea?”

“We should go camping!”

“…camping?”

That was it? No explosives? Nothing that was going to break the law?

“Camping... where?” Ichigo slowly asked.

“My backyard! Well, more specifically, Byakuya’s backyard, since we can go deep into the woods and be as loud as we want without worry of anyone overhearing us. Plus, there’s part of Karakura river that goes along Byakuya’s property that we can-”

“No!”

Shiro raised a brow.

On the other side of the call, Rukia blinked. “What do you mean ‘no’!?”

“For one, your brother-in-law hates me. Two, if it’s just you, me, and Orihime, I’m going to be subject to whatever-”

“Byakuya doesn’t hate you! And it’s gonna be the whole gang from high school. Uryu, Chad, Tatsuki… everyone!”

Ichigo felt a little bubbly. He hadn’t seen everyone all together in ages. “Really? Everyone?”

“Well, Keigo and Mizuiro can’t make it, but everyone else!”

Ichigo smiled. “Alright, sure. When are we leaving and what do I bring?”

“In thirty minutes~!”

“What-?”

“And bring Shiro! He’s invited!”

“RUKIA! I can’t skip school to-”

The phone went dead.

“UGH. I swear, sometimes she’s…” Ichigo sighed. His chest was still buzzing a little at the idea of seeing all his old friends.

“So, what was that?”

“We’ve been invited to go on a camping trip… in thirty minutes, and I don’t know for how long.”

Shiro chuckled. “Guess I really won’t be going to class, then?”

“You’re okay with not going to class?”

Shiro stepped up to him. “Mhm~! My grades are fine, and yours are top notch. You’ll have time to do homework and assignments while we’re out, I’m sure. Let’s go! It’ll be fun!”

Ichigo’s eyes widened for a moment before they softened and he relaxed. “Alright, thanks Shi. Although, if she’s specifically inviting you, then I should warn you that she’s probably planning something.”

Shiro shrugged. “I’m sure that you and I can handle it.”

Tanned cheeks turned a soft pink.  _ Shit, shit, shit, I’m gonna do something embarrassing if I don’t get a hold on this crush. _

_ Embarrassing?  _ Ichigo challenged himself. _Like letting him call you 'King'?_

"I'd better go pack," Ichigo said while he quickly turned away from Shiro.

“Ichigo," Shiro said, "if Rukia is coming over, you’d better get some clothes on too.”

He glanced down at himself.  _ Or maybe you’ll just forget to wear clothes in front of the man you love, Ichigo... _

“Damn it!” Ichigo cursed as he scrambled to get some pants on.

Shiro grinned at him. “No underwear, King? No one else will know but I will-”

“Just shut up,” Ichigo snapped, although not without a small smile to show that he wasn’t really angry. “Oh, uh, Shiro?”

“Yeah?”

“None of my friends know that I’m, well… y’know… Yasashi. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell them, and that means we should probably keep our relationship a secret too. I m-mean! The sex part, at least, like… I’ve never been bold with flirting or displays of affection in front of anyone, so, to keep up with that…”

Shiro smirked. “Don’ worry 'bout it.”

Shiro frowned a bit and then concentrated on speaking without an accent. “I’m not about to blow our cover in front of your friends. If you don’t want them finding out about your double life, then I'll keep my lips sealed.”

Ichigo slowly nodded. He placed a kiss on Shiro’s cheek. “Thanks."

"Anything for you, King."

"Don't call me that!"


	9. For Your Entertainment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm crying because look at how beautiful this drawing of Ichigo is~!! He's so cute in his lil' hero costume!  
> The photo was made by IchigoShiro and you can find them on tumblr or DeviantArt or Instagram, and there are probably some of you who recognize their awesome art style! Anyway, PLEASE go check out their work! It's awesome and deserves more love!  
> https://ichigoshiro.tumblr.com/  
> https://www.instagram.com/ichigoshiro/  
> https://www.deviantart.com/ichigoshiro

* * *

It was raining. Not hard, but more like a mist.

Masaki smiled down at her son and squeezed his hand as they walked alongside the river. Despite the mist surrounding them that day, it actually hadn’t rained much that summer, so the river was hardly running.

Her son was growing up so fast. Ichigo had finally won his first match at the dojo today and Masaki couldn’t have been prouder.

“Mommy, who’s that?” Ichigo asked, pointing to down the pathway in front of them.

Masaki squinted, but through the mist, she couldn’t make out any features, other than the build was obviously that of a man’s. “I don’t know, dear.”

“Isn’t he going to get soaked without an umbrella, mommy?”

Masaki glanced down at her son who stared back at her with concern.

“Can I give him my umbrella? I have a jacket, so I don’t need mine!”

She gave him a gentle nod.

Ichigo beamed and rushed off in the rain, mud flinging from his boots as he ran. “Sir! M-Mister!”

_“Masaki…”_

Her eyes widened. “Ichigo, wait! Don’t go!”

Ichigo froze where he stood. The man started walking towards them.

“Ichigo, come back sweetie! Please, listen to my voice!”

Ichigo didn’t move.

_“It’s too late, Masaki.”_

“Ichigo!”

* * *

Ichigo woke with a gasp.

“Ichigo?” Shiro questioned, surprised to see panic crossing Ichigo’s face. Brown eyes darted madly around Rukia’s car until they settled on Shiro’s familiar features.

Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief. “It was just a bad dream.”

Shiro brushed Ichigo’s bangs from his face, they’d been clinging to his forehead with sweat. No, that certainly wasn’t _just_ a bad dream. But whatever it had been, Ichigo seemed to have moved on from it as he settled against Shiro again.

“Everything alright back there?”

Shiro glanced into the rear-view mirror where he could see Rukia’s eyes. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Sorry for worrying ya.”

Rukia shook her head and kept her eyes on the road. “No wonder you and Ichigo are together, you sound just like him. Don’t apologize for worrying anyone, that’s what friends do, and if I catch you or Ichigo with that bullshit coming from your mouths again, I’ll personally beat your self-loathing out of you.”

Tatsuki chuckled. “Second me on that.”

Ichigo gave Shiro a gentle smile. “They’re serious. Rukia once dragged me halfway across the school by my ear to make me apologize to Orihime for apologizing about the fact that I worried her when I disappeared from school for a few days. I was sick.”

Orihime offered Shiro a nervous giggle as a way of confirming that Ichigo’s story had been true.

“Well anyway,” Ichigo slowly sat up. “How close are we, Rukia?”

“Oh, another thirty minutes or so. Go back to cuddling your boyfriend. You look like you need the sleep, Ichigo. You’ve clearly been studying too hard.”

Orihime nodded. “That’s why we thought this would be a good idea! We were worried about you, Ichigo, but also about Uryu. He’s been studying way too hard. I found him outside in his pajamas studying! He thought he was in the library!”

Tatsuki blinked. “I’m… pretty sure that was you we found outside, Orihime. You were sleep walking.”

“Oh.” Orihime shrugged. “But you have to admit, Uryu might study too hard and end up in a situation like that one day!”

Shiro glanced at Orihime in the backseat, then at Tatsuki in the front. He didn’t have any friends like this when he grew up. Well, except for one, but Grimmjow was more like brother than friend. Shiro wondered if he and Ichigo had gone to the same school when they were younger, would they have gotten along like this? He honestly wasn’t sure if he’d be able to fit in with Ichigo’s group of friends.

But then Ichigo sent him that soft, reassuring smile, coupled with those sweet, caring eyes and Shiro’s worry just melted away.

Shiro cracked a grin and joined in on the conversation. “Ichigo’s not much better, you know, during exam time.”

Ichigo shot him a soft glare.

Shiro continued, even though he would probably pay for his words later. “Ichigo became a coffee zombie. He’d crawl out of his room at the exact same time every morning and go straight for the coffee pot. He’d moan and groan until he finished drinking his cup of coffee, and then he’d study a bit. But his cravings were never satisfied and he went through at least another 4 cups before he left for the day. It got a little scary after a while if I tried to take the coffee away from him, you know, for health reasons. I thought he might kill me just to get his hands on another cup.”

“That is _so_ not true, and you know it!” Ichigo pouted.

Tatsuki scanned Ichigo quickly. “No, that sounds pretty accurate actually. I wouldn’t be surprised at all.”

“That was Ichigo in the mornings during high school. He was almost late daily because he needed his third cup of coffee.”

“Okay, stop, you guys are exaggerating on purpose now!”

Tatsuki shrugged. “Well, Shiro can just confirm with Yuzu, right?”

Ichigo blinked.

Shiro raised a brow. “Sure, I can, when I finally meet her.”

“You mean you haven’t met Ichigo’s family yet!?”

“We’ve been busy with school!” Ichigo cried.

Shiro cackled and leaned back in his seat. If all Ichigo’s friends liked teasing Ichigo as much as Shiro did, well, maybe Shiro would get along with them after all.

“You should really introduce him to your family, Ichigo,” Tatsuki continued.

“I think Isshin would like Shiro,” Orihime added.

Ichigo shrank in his seat. “You really think my perverted dad needs to meet my boyfriend?”

Shiro blushed. _Did he just call me his boyfriend?_

Ichigo sighed and fidgeted with the bottom button of his shirt. “You know, actually, I think dad would have a blast meeting you, Shiro. He always teased me about never being able to bring home a cute girl, and I guess he’s right. I’ve got a cute boy instead.” Ichigo shot a grin at Shiro.

Shiro felt his insides melt at the look.

“Aww!” Orihime cried and clapped her hands together. “This is too much, I’m going to cry! You guys are so cute together!”

Ichigo noticed Shiro move closer to him, the other’s lips getting closer to his own. Ichigo placed a finger on Shiro’s lips. “Nuh uh, we’re not giving them a show that easily. Trust me, Shiro, the shipping won’t end if we kiss in front of them, and it’ll only get worse afterwards.”

“What the hell, Ichigo?” Tatsuki said. “If you think we’re going to force you and Shiro to do things for our entertainment, you’re dead wrong!”

Rukia grinned to herself. It was true that Tatsuki didn’t know all of Rukia and Orihime’s plans, but she knew enough to know that that last sentence was most certainly a lie.

* * *

“ _This_ is your brother-in-law’s _house!?_ ” Shiro gasped, staring up at what was most certainly the biggest house he’d ever seen. Well, the biggest house he’d ever seen in real life, that is… Or perhaps it was the biggest house he’d ever seen that he didn’t have intentions to rob.

“Well, I did say it was a mansion,” Rukia added.

“Oh my god.” Shiro rubbed his eyes and then pinched himself. Nope, he wasn’t dreaming, this _house_ really was right in front of him.

It was unnecessarily large, like, _why did one need all that space?_ It was two floors tall, but the steep, pointed roof made it seem like it was three. What was more impressive was the fact that the mansion’s width was at least three, if not four times its height.

The mansion was symmetrical. The only thing that might be different was the driveway on the right side of the mansion which flowed out to touch the street, as opposed to the hedges and assorted flowers on the left side.

The roof was tiled and was a dark navy blue, a stark contrast to the gentle blue of the sky. The walls were made of an off-white stone. The entrance to the mansion stuck out slightly to meet the walkway from the driveway. The wings on either side of the mansion stuck out as well. As a result, there were indents in the wall between the entrance and the two wings. Vines filled those indents, trailing the walls of the mansion like they had done for many years before.

Shiro couldn’t believe his eyes. He knew first hand what money could and couldn’t buy. He’d stolen the money he needed to take care of his mother and give her a nice place to live, but he only bought the necessities lest he rouse suspicion. And then there were rich families who owned houses like this… Extra, and unnecessary details, were added to every aspect of the house: to the ornaments on the chimneys and the decorative trim on the windows.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Rukia asked. “This home has been in the Kuchiki family for a few generations now, although it wasn’t nearly as stunning as this until my brother became the head of the family and hired a team to clean up the place.”

“What do you even do with all those rooms?” Shiro asked.

“It’s for entertaining guests,” Rukia answered simply. “The Kuchikis are known for hospitality amongst royalty. We’ve even had the mayor stay in one of these rooms once.”

Ichigo and Tatsuki made a barfing sound.

Shiro slowly raised a brow in Ichigo’s direction. _Didn’t Yasashi protect the mayor?_ Shiro flinched when he and Ichigo made eye contact, and then Shiro slowly moved his gaze over to Tatsuki.

Tatsuki snorted at the look on Shiro’s face. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those mindless idiots who actually _like_ the mayor, Shiro?”

Shiro slowly blinked. “Well, hell no, but I thought…?” He glanced at Ichigo.

Ichigo grinned. “Welcome to the friend group, Shiro. We’re all a little different here, and we all loathe the mayor. We can’t wait until someone takes him down.”

“I’m surprised Yasashi hasn’t done it yet,” Rukia spat.

Shiro flinched but he noticed Ichigo’s grin hadn’t faltered.

“Oh yeah?” Ichigo asked. “What makes you think Yasashi wants to take out the mayor?”

“You’re right. He’s obviously protecting him,” Tatsuki muttered. “One of the villains need to step up and do it.”

Ichigo scratched the back of his head. “What makes you think any of the villains want to take out the mayor?”

“All the villains are mutants,” Tatsuki said.

“Except for two of the Xcution members,” Orihime added. “They’re cyborgs, right? The ones with the boots and the one who can make video games real?”

Ichigo slowly nodded. “I think that’s right, but Xcution hasn’t been in the media lately. Anyway, maybe they’re all waiting for the mayor to be voted out peacefully.”

Orihime sighed. “Karakura town used to be so peaceful, then he was voted in…”

Ruika nodded. “Well, best not to worry about it. We have a vacation and an entire forest to ourselves to look forward to! We can let loose and be ourselves for once without having to hide anything.”

“Hide anything?” Shiro echoed.

Rukia smirked and reached for a water bottle that had been in the front seat next to her. She held it up for Shiro to see. Shiro watched, amazed, as frost coated the outside of the bottle and then the water slowly froze inside.

Ichigo turned to Shiro and reached for the sun glasses on Shiro’s face. “You don’t need those here, Shi. We’re all freaks in one way or another.”

“I resent that term,” Tatsuki snapped.

“Sorry,” Ichigo chuckled. He took off Shiro’s glasses and Shiro instinctively shut his eyes.

Rukia leaned in closer. “So, what are _you_ hiding, Shiro?”

Slowly, gold on black eyes opened. He noticed Tatsuki flinch, Rukia’s eyes widen, and Orihime… her jaw dropped, and she clapped her hands together.

“Whoa!” She gasped. “Your eyes are amazing!”

Ichigo smiled softly, as if repeating her words in his grin.

Shiro looked back at Tatsuki. He realized she flinched out of shock and not fear, and now she was nodding in agreement with Orihime. Rukia’s eyes had widened since she wasn’t expecting the colour, but she too didn’t seem afraid of him.

It was a welcome change. Shiro was used to being called a monster.

“I bet Ichigo thinks they’re sexy,” Tatsuki quickly said.

Ichigo flinched as thought he’d just been hit in the head with a brick. “Tatsuki, you can’t just say things like that!”

Shiro smirked. “Oh yeah, he does.”

“SHIRO!”

“Rukia!” A woman called, interrupting the little quarrel between friends.

Shiro turned and thought that he was seeing double. He blinked, and then glanced back at Rukia. It was shocking how much the woman now approaching them resembled Rukia.

“Hisana!” Rukia called, dropping her bag and running towards the woman. “It’s so good to see you!”

“And you as well,” Hisana giggled, embracing her younger sister. “Some of your friends arrived before you did and they’re waiting inside. I think it was Uryu and Chad. Is there anyone else coming?”

Rukia leaned back from the hug with a small, and if Ichigo didn’t know Rukia better, he’d say a shy smile. “Renji must still be on his way with the others.”

Hisana slowly folded her arms. “I see. So Renji is coming, then? I thought he’d be too scared to show his face here after the last time…”

Rukia closed her eyes and shook her head. “Byakuya was too hard on him.”

Ichigo scowled. “What did Byakuya do to him?”

Hisana giggled and answered before Rukia could, “Oh, nothing you need to worry about, Ichigo! Renji is a big boy and can fight his battles with Byakuya all on his own, so why don’t you give the hero-thing a rest, okay?”

Ichigo blushed and Shiro snickered at him.

Hisana turned her gaze on Shiro. “Oh? That’s a new face. Who’s this?”

Shiro froze.

“That’s Ichigo’s boyfriend, Shiro,” Rukia answered.

Hisana’s smile became almost ominous. “Oh, I see. Well, welcome to the family, Shiro.”

Shiro shrunk and Ichigo laughed nervously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters are going to be entirely self-indulgent. I want the gang to hang out and be close friends, and do what normal close friends do apparently? And that's things like Truth or Dare while camping in a forest, apparently?  
> I'm warning you now too, the nsfw themes are really going to pick up.  
> We'll return to the angst afterwards, but don't you think Ichigo Kurosaki deserves a break? <3


	10. Nights in the Sun

**Words that could describe the Kuchiki mansion:**

 

  * ****Polished: refined, cultured, or elegant****


  * **Meticulous: showing extreme care about minute details; precise; thorough**


  * **Ethereal: extremely delicate or refined; heavenly or celestial**



 

The living room was just as exquisite as the exterior of the mansion. In fact, everything was exquisite. The spacious entrance with its large chandelier, the polished floors, the carpet down the hallway, the staff that greeted them and took their bags, the snacks which they served to them in the living room…

Shiro was almost nervous sitting in the living room for fear that, if he were to break something, he’d be paying it off for the rest of his life. So, after Ichigo sat down, Shiro sat next to him, squishing as close to Ichigo as he could get as to limit the space he took up and, as a result, limit the things he might touch. He was even too nervous to touch the snacks that had been set out on the coffee table for fear of getting crumbs everywhere.

Ichigo, sensing that Shiro was a little nervous, slid his arm around his lover’s.

Rukia, Orihime and Tatsuki were discussing what they might have for dinner. Ichigo seemed to be listening to the three girls chat, meanwhile, Hisana was staring directly at Shiro and hadn’t taken her eyes off of him from the moment they all sat down.

“So, when did you two first meet?” Hisana asked.

Her voice was like the record scratch which ended the humming of the other three talking.

Shiro gulped. Why did he feel like he was being interrogated?

“We met as roommates,” Ichigo answered. “It was… wow, not that long ago, actually. The beginning of this year.”

“You’ve only known each other for three months, then?”

Shiro felt sweat crawl down the back of his neck. Counting his and Ichigo’s time together as Kishi and Yasashi, it was much longer, but since they couldn't expose their secret, Hisana was right. In her eyes, they only knew each other for about 2 or 3 months when they decided to start seeing each other. That wasn’t a lot of time.

“Well, what can I say…?” Shiro tried shrugging it off with a joke like he always did, but Hisana’s stare was so intense, it was actually making him nervous. “Ichigo is such a nice guy…”

Ichigo tried not to blush. It was a simple compliment, really, and as much as it made him want to gush and hug Shiro, he had to stay strong for Shiro’s sake. “The first week before classes started, we just hung out and got to know each other. We hit it off really well…”

_ Ichigo observed his new roommate with a hint of shock. No way, there was absolutely no way that Ichigo was going to survive with a roommate that hot. And yet, shit, Ichigo was already checking the guy out. He hadn’t even introduced himself. He hadn’t even made a sound to announce his presence to the other after entering the room, and there Ichigo was checking out the other’s ass. Did it ever look fine, too, squeezed into leather... _

Ichigo cleared his throat to shake the memory away, even though he knew it was already too late and his cheeks were stained red. “He was kind, funny, and smart. Shiro was also tidy and quiet. It was easy to return to the dorm with him there… I slowly found myself looking forward to seeing him again after each long day. That’s when I realized I had a crush on him.”

“Really?” Shiro questioned. It was then that Ichigo noticed Shiro was blushing as well.

Ichigo offered a small nod to answer Shiro’s question.

Inverted eyes looked down, then back at Ichigo. “All this time, I thought it was my cooking that made you keep coming back.”

“Well, you took care of me… especially through midterm week.” Ichigo grinned and leaned into Shiro. “The cooking was definitely a good reason to keep coming back, though. That and the fact that my bed was in the room next to yours.”

Shiro snorted. “Yeah, that’ll do it.”

Ichigo placed a quick kiss on Shiro’s lips. Rukia was about to comment when Renji entered the room.

“I’m here! Sorry, I’m a little late.”

“Twenty minutes isn’t too bad, Renji,” Rukia said as she stood up. She walked over and placed a kiss on Renji’s cheek as he bent down to give her a hug.

Ichigo smiled. Renji and Rukia seemed to be doing much better now that Byakuya and Renji were on better terms. The last time they were all in Byakuya’s house, Renji was too scared to even look at Rukia, let alone kiss her. Although, from what Hisana said earlier, things were definitely still tense between Renji and Byakuya.

“Did you bring the others?” Rukia asked.

“Others?” Tatsuki questioned.

Renji gave Rukia a dry smirk. “No, I totally forgot to pick them up. They’re probably calling me right now wondering where I am.”

“No need to be sarcastic,” Rukia scolded.

Behind Renji, two new faces walked in. And ‘new’ meant that Ichigo didn’t recognize them. Shiro, however, was having a mini heart attack as soon as he saw blue and green hair.

“Nel!” Rukia squealed, embracing the tall woman when she walked in. They hugged each other like they hadn’t seen each other in years.

Ichigo blinked, although it was Uryu who asked, “Who’s this? I mean, I gather that the one with green hair is named ‘Nel’, but…”

Nel stepped around Rukia and gave a short bow. “Hi! My name is Nelliel tu Odelschwanck. Don’t worry about remembering that mouthful, though, just ‘Nel’ is fine! And the fine brooding gentleman to my left is-”

“Shirosaki!? The fuck are you doing here!?” The man shouted.

Shiro, well, would’ve paled if he could. “I could ask you the same thing, Grimmjow.”

“Oh!” Rukia blinked. “You know each other?”

Shiro flinched. Ichigo saw him searching for words, and he debated asking Shiro how exactly he knew Grimmjow...

“Well, uh,” Shiro grinned. “We grew up together, actually.” It wasn’t completely a lie. “Same high school. Haven’t seen him since then, though. I’m just surprised, is all. And it looks like you and Nel are still together.”

Nel, however, had not gone to the same high school as the boys, but she smiled widely and pretended as though she had. When she hugged Shiro, it was a genuine hug. “Oh my gosh, Shiro, your hair has really grown since then! It’s so good to see you again!”

Shiro chuckled and hugged Nel back.

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and yet greeted Shiro with a grin anyway. They shook hands and exchanged amused laughter.

“Grimm, Nel, I’d like ya to meet my partner,” Shiro said as he stepped away from his old friends and slid an arm around Ichigo’s waist.

Nel and Grimmjow exchanged a glanced before turning somewhat surprised eyes on Ichigo. Ichigo glanced at Shiro with a brow raised and Shiro nodded. Ichigo, though not entirely confident in his deduction, guessed that this meant Shiro had told Grimmjow and Nel that he had been dating someone before and now they finally met him.

Ichigo was positive that he was missing pieces of the story. The fact that Shiro would lie about when he met Grimmjow and Nel must’ve meant that the two were related to Kishi somehow, and if so, it was possible that both Grimmjow and Nel were villains that Kishi allied with. The real question was then what was Ichigo to these two newcomers? Was he ‘the boy Shiro was dating from college’ or was Ichigo ‘the hero of Karakura that Kishi was dating’?

Shiro didn’t seem to be too distressed. Ichigo trusted Shiro not to do anything, well, villainous while around his friends, and if Shiro didn’t seem too bothered by Grimmjow and Nel’s presence, then that meant he trusted the others to not make too big of a mess too.

Ichigo couldn’t help but remain on guard, though, just in case. Not all of the enemies he fought against were bad people, but not all of them were entirely innocent either. The worst of his enemies had accidentally killed civilians who got caught in the crossfire.

The worst villain, the only one Ichigo believed truly worthy of that title, had nearly destroyed Ichigo’s family.

Ichigo shook his head. He was supposed to be on vacation and not thinking about those things. He offered Grimmjow and Nel a smile. “It’s great to meet you both.”

Rukia glanced around the room with a satisfied smile. “Now, time to move on to the reason I invited you all here!”

Ichigo sighed.  _ Why did Rukia have to say that like an evil mastermind? _

* * *

“Quit whining, you babies!” Rukia barked like a Sargent.

“But Rukia… why do we have to hike so far back into the woods on a hot day like this?” Renji groaned, carrying his bag of clothes and some food on his back.

Rukia smirked. “I’m glad you asked! Trust me, it’s all going to be worth it when we get there!”

“I hope so,” Ichigo murmured to Shiro.

Shiro grinned at him. He knew Ichigo wasn’t really complaining. Shiro was having an easy enough time carrying the bag Rukia had given him as well as his own items. So, Shiro knew that Ichigo, with his inhuman strength that was similar to Shiro’s own, would be having an easy time as well.

The forest only seemed to thicken. Mosquitoes became merciless. Tatsuki swung her arms above her head in an attempt to get rid of a swarm. Shiro swore that if one more bug flew by his ear, he was going to riot.

Nel smirked a little as Grimmjow swore. The bugs were bad, yes, but the colourful language coming out of Grimmjow’s mouth put his hair to shame.

“We’re almost there,” Rukia promised.

They huffed as they hiked up a small hill. The hill itself wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t for the roots that everyone tripped and stumbled over.

“Fuck!” Grimmjow swore when his boot got caught.

Ichigo observed the ground. Shiro could see the thoughts spinning in Ichigo’s head as Ichigo asked, “Hey, Rukia, do you come back here often?”

“Yeah!” Rukia answered. “It’s great entertainment for my friends, but also for Byakuya’s guests. It’s also where our employees go on break.”

Ichigo nodded to himself. That would explain why there was a clear path through the woods. They weren’t just wandering aimlessly, Rukia and several others had gone this way before and had carved out a pathway from numerous hikes in and out of the woods. It also explained why there were so many roots sticking out above the ground. The dirt had been compressed from many people stepping on it, enough to expose the roots. The ground was at its most compressed now, too, considering that they were nearing the end of the camping season. Another month or two and the ground would be covered in leaves and possibly snow.

“I can’t take these bugs anymore!” Grimmjow roared.

“Could you stop complaining?” Shiro called back. “We’re all suffering from bug bites. Your bitching isn’t helping anyone.”

“What was that, Shirosaki? You wanna fight?”

Ichigo scowled. “Knock it off you two.”

“I’ll fight your boyfriend too, Shirosaki.”

“I have a name,” Ichigo spat before Shiro had the chance to respond.

“Your bickering is pathetic,” Tatsuki muttered.

“What was that!?”

“Grimmjow, honey, shut up,” Nel said.

Grimmjow gulped. Others may have missed it, but the grin Nel gave Grimmjow hid the threat of murder in her eyes.

“Wow, dude’s whipped,” Renji muttered.

“ _ What was that _ ?” Rukia questioned.

“Nothing…”

Shiro snorted and Ichigo shot him a look.

Tatsuki, who was travelling at the back next to Orihime, saw the whole thing. She and Orihime shared a grin and then covered their mouths together as they chuckled.

Uryu took off his glasses, wiped them, then put them back on. “No one here is whipped. That’s such a shitty term. If anything, I’d say we just found out who the power bottoms are.”

Rukia grinned. “I’ll accept that term.”

“I prefer to think that Grimm and I are equals, as opposed to ‘bottom’ or ‘top’, but that’s just me,” Nel added.

Ichigo blinked when Uryu glanced at him. “Wait, did I just get lumped into this conversation?”

“Well, it’s obvious you’re a bottom, Kurosaki,” Uryu explained. “Prove me wrong, otherwise.”

“ _ What _ !?” Ichigo squeaked, unintentionally high-pitched. “That’s- You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Uryu shrugged. “You haven’t offered any proof to suggest that I’m wrong. Except, maybe, you have an obsessive need to be in control of situations. Even then, you can control what’s going on from a bottom role, hence the term ‘power bottom’.”

Ichigo scowled. “That’s so not true-”

“Wow!” Orihime gasped. “Uryu’s so insightful and yeah, I can totally see that in Ichigo’s personality! Uryu’s analysis is spot on!”

“No it’s-”

“It’s actually kind of creepy,” Chad mumbled.

Ichigo glanced at Shiro for help. Shiro shrugged. Ichigo’s eye twitched and he muttered, “I won’t forget about this, Shi. You’ll regret not helping me.”

“Oh…” Uryu continued. “Then again, I could be wrong. Kurosaki could be a switch.”

“STOP TALKING ABOUT ME!”

Ichigo huffed and put his headphones on in order to tune out the conversation happening around him. Ichigo cranked the volume and tried to ignore the blush spreading across his face. If anyone commented on it, he would shrug it off as a result of the heat.

Shiro smirked a little at Ichigo. Honestly, even when he was angry, Ichigo was downright cute. At the same time, he did feel a little bad at how embarrassed they had made Ichigo. Of all the times Shiro and Ichigo had been together, he noticed that it took some warming up before Ichigo tried something new, but when Ichigo tried it he was  _ great  _ at it, and it only got better once Ichigo felt more confident.

And shit, well, if one day Ichigo wanted to try giving instead of receiving, Shiro would accept without a second thought.

After some more stumbling and pushing through bushes, the group came to a clearing. In that clearing was a large, white circus-style tent, next to a small pink tent and two small, orange tents.

Ichigo took off his headphones when he noticed Rukia talking.

“We’re here!”

“Finally,” Grimmjow muttered.

Rukia pointed to the white tent. “That’s big enough to fit all of us inside when we’re sitting. It’s also got a little kitchen and it’s kinda like a hang-out place. We won’t be sleeping in there, just relaxing. The pink tent is mine. Then the two orange tents are up for grabs. Although, I think Uryu and Tatsuki brought their own tents?”

Uryu nodded. “Mine will fit two people. So, Chad will probably stay with me, since I’m assuming the couples are going to group up.”

Rukia seemed to get a devious sparkle in her eye at Uryu’s words, but Ichigo didn’t comment on it.

“Hime and I can fit in mine,” Tatsuki added.

“Perfect!” Rukia said. She turned to Ichigo and Shiro. “You want one of the orange ones? And Grimmjow and Nel can have the other one?”

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. Rukia seemed way too enthusiastic about this. Well, in fact, she was much too enthusiastic about the whole thing, really.

“Sounds good,” Shiro answered for them.

Nel and Grimmjow nodded.

Rukia pointed to the large white tent. “Put your things down in there for now. We can set up the tents after a quick tour!”

Ichigo slowly removed his backpack from his shoulders. He made a move for the white tent, but Shiro stopped him. “I’ll take your bag.”

Ichigo blinked in surprise and then his expression slowly softened into a smile. “Okay, thank you, Shi.”

Shiro nodded.

The white tent also had a mosquito screen underneath the white layer. Shiro opened just the bottom half of the screen and placed his backpack and Ichigo’s to the side. Others followed suit in order to minimize the number of mosquitoes that would be let into the tent.

After the bags had been put away, Rukia waved the group over to the left side of the clearing. They followed a stone pathway down the hill. There, the trees opened up and the Karakura river could be seen. There was a small wooden dock at the bottom of the path.

“Here’s where we can swim! It’s also totally private so, you know, no one will see if the couples decide to skinny dip.” Rukia winked.

Dread weighed down Ichigo’s stomach. _Oh,_ it suddenly made perfect sense. This is why Rukia wanted to drag Ichigo and his friends to an isolated location and why Rukia insisted that he bring Shiro.

Ichigo had been dragged right into Orihime and Rukia’s trap.

Rukia shot a dark grin in Ichigo’s direction. Then, her eyes moved around the address the whole crowd. “I’m going to get Truth or Dare ready. So, feel free to explore.”

“We’re playing Truth or Dare?” Nel asked.

Rukia nodded. “Not just any Truth or Dare, but a dirty one that I created myself! I have a truth jar and a dare jar ready for you to pick from if you can’t come up with something on your own. I even have prizes for the winners and a punishment for the losers!”

“How do you lose at Truth or Dare?” Tatsuki questioned.

“By declining a truth or a dare. The winners are those who don’t decline anything, and the loser or losers are those who declined the most.”

Ichigo scowled. “That doesn’t seem fair. What if someone is uncomfortable?”

Rukia shrugged. “Then they lose.”

Ichigo frowned. “C’mon Rukia, you can’t do something like that.”

“Fine… then we’ll leave it to a group vote. If the group decides that it’s not a truth or a dare that’s easy to do and they judge that the person is rightfully uncomfortable, then they don’t lose a point. We just move on.”

Ichigo had a feeling that Rukia had planned that out too, but wasn’t being entirely forthcoming. Which reminded Ichigo, “What’s the punishment for losing?”

“A super special dare!”

“But Rukia…” Chad said, “If you couldn’t get them to do dares or answer truths, then what makes you think you’ll be able to get them to do a dare as punishment?”

Rukia smirked. “Because the dare will be something special for that person. They’ll be able to do it and the can have help from a friend or partner to complete it!”

Ichigo scratched the back of his head. Rukia’s logic was… somewhat sound, even if he disagreed with it.


	11. Yours to Hold

“Truth or Dare won’t be until it’s a little darker,” Rukia explained, “so, in the meantime, feel free to do your own thing.”

Ichigo seized his opportunity to go swimming. He grabbed his bag from the white tent (and Shiro’s too), then wandered towards one of the smaller, orange tents. He saw Nel and Grimmjow doing the same.

“Oi, Ichi,” Shiro called.

Ichigo turned to meet him. Shiro reached for his bag and Ichigo passed it off to him.

Shiro chuckled. “You could’ve waited for me, and I would have grabbed my bag, yanno...”

Ichigo shrugged. “They’re not that heavy. Besides, it’s like, fifteen steps from the white tent to our tent, so.”

“Alright, that’s fair.”

Ichigo ducked and undid the zipper on the orange tent. Ichigo was met with a thin mattress that covered three-fourths of the tent. The remaining fourth of the tent was big enough for their bags to sit in and was on the left side of the entrance.

Ichigo tossed his bag to the left and then ducked so he could enter the tent. Shiro placed his bag next to Ichigo’s and then followed Ichigo inside. Shiro crouched so that he could zip the tent shut again, and then he sat with his back against his backpack.

“It’s certainly cozy in here,” Shiro commented.

Ichigo nodded. “It’s enough space to move around without getting uncomfortable, but at night, it’ll be small enough that our body heat should be able to keep us warm.”

Shiro sent Ichigo a crooked grin. “Oh don’t worry, Ichigo. If yer cold, then I ‘ave other ways of keepin’ ya warm.”

Ichigo scowled and muttered, “Idiot…”

Shiro frowned and poked Ichigo’s leg with his toe. “Y’know… you really know how to spoil the mood with your name calling.”

Ichigo blinked. “Oh, shit, sorry Shiro, I didn’t mean it like-”

Shiro chuckled. “Relax, Ichigo, I didn’t mean to make you feel guilty. I just meant, well… With your friends around, you’ve been embarrassed and muttering insults whenever I tease you. If I’m going over the top, I’d understand if you just let me know, but at the same time… when I tease you, I kinda want you to tease me back.”

Ichigo slowly sat down across from Shiro. “Really?”

Shiro nodded.

Ichigo idly scratched under his chin. “I… okay, I’ll try to keep that in mind. And sorry for being bitter when you tease me. Whenever I’m with my friends, or around other people in general, I’m used to blocking out their teasing. I grew up that way, bullied in high school because of my hair.”

“I know the feeling,” Shiro replied. He leaned forward and crawled up next to Ichigo. There, he placed a kiss on Ichigo’s cheek.

Ichigo smiled. “Well, I’m glad we got that sorted out because otherwise, I’d have to kick you out while I change into my bathing suit.”

“Mmm, I’m looking forward to that show.”

Ichigo was about to curse at Shiro when he caught himself. He smiled and slowly climbed to his feet. “I’m going swimming, are you coming with me?”

Shiro nodded and stood as well. “Why not? Sounds like fun.”

Ichigo slid off his shirt, ignoring Shiro’s eyes as they trailed his body. If Shiro was going to watch, Ichigo decided that he didn’t mind it.

Ichigo knelt down and dug through his backpack for his swimming shorts. Once he found them, he stepped out of the way and Shiro went to grab his own. Ichigo sat down once he was finished changing, and he watched Shiro as he waited.

Shiro shot him a grin and a soft, “See something you like?”

“Maybe,” Ichigo replied.

Shiro snorted to himself and finished changing. Yeah, that was the Ichigo he remembered, and the Ichigo he liked much better than the grumpy and shy Ichigo he’d seen earlier today. This was the Ichigo that made Shiro’s heart stutter.

“It’s getting hot in here, hurry up,” Ichigo said, not a hint of aggression in his voice.

“Just let me put my things away,” Shiro replied, slowly bending over to put his clothes into his bag.

Ichigo watched him with a grin.

“Ugh, enough already,” Grimmjow shouted from his tent. “You two gonna fuck or what?”

“Shut up, Grimmjow!” Shiro spat back.

Ichigo felt his cheeks catch fire. He licked his lips before shouting, “Mind your own damn business.”

“It’s hard with the two of you being so loud!” Grimmjow replied.

Ichigo smirked. “Oh, you haven’t heard anything, Grimmjow. We can be  _ much  _ louder if you like!”

Shiro snickered.

There was silence, and then Nel spoke, “Don’t mind Grimmjow, he’s just being a hypocrite. And he’s in a bad mood because he doesn’t like the woods. He’s also grumpy since I woke him up from his cat nap to go camping.”

“That’s not true.”

“There, there, kitty,” Nel hummed.

Ichigo blinked. Shiro suppressed his laughter.

“Well,” Ichigo said, turning back towards Shiro, “anyway… ready to go swimming?”

Shiro nodded and unzipped the door. He slung a towel over his shoulders as he stepped out.

Ichigo glanced once more around the tent. He reached for the zipper to a window on the far right side of the tent and opened it, letting a breeze flow through.

Shiro watched and didn’t say anything. He thought about teasing Ichigo for being a slowpoke, but opening a window was actually a good idea.

Ichigo tossed the rest of his clothes behind his backpack - to be sorted later. Then he grabbed his own towel, stepped out of the tent and Shiro did up the zipper.

“I’m ready to just relax, I think,” Ichigo mused, more to himself than anyone else.

Shiro slid his hand in Ichigo’s. “Good. You’ve been working too hard.”

“I have to work hard,” Ichigo replied. The exhaustion in Ichigo’s eyes and his tone of voice suggested to Shiro that Ichigo wasn’t just talking about his school work, but his hero work too.

Shiro tugged on Ichigo’s hand, stopping them both from walking. “Can you promise me something, Ichigo?”

Ichigo blinked. “What is it?”

“For as long as we’re here, can you let loose and try to relax? You’ll kill yourself with how much stress you put on your shoulders.”

“I’ll try…” Ichigo murmured.

Shiro smiled. “If you need help relaxing, I’m right here.”

Ichigo chuckled. “I’ll remember that.” He placed a soft kiss to Shiro’s lips. “Thank you.”

Shiro resumed their walk to the river. “Anytime.”

“Ichigo!” Rukia called. “I have some floaties if you want!”

Ichigo observed the floaties in Rukia’s arms. One was doughnut-shaped and the other was bed-shaped.

“We’d love them,” Shiro answered without giving Ichigo a chance to respond.

Ichigo slowly raised a brow at Shiro, suspecting him to be up to something.

Shiro added, “You need to relax, Ichigo. So we’ll take the doughnut one.”

Rukia smirked and handed it over. Shiro returned to Ichigo’s side and Ichigo looked between Rukia and Shiro, wondering if somehow the two of them planned to conspire against him.

“Oh, I also grabbed sunscreen,” Shiro added.

Ichigo nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

“Last time we went swimming together we stayed in the shade but my pale skin won't actually burn, and I get the feeling I can be honest about that around your friends.” Shiro looked around at Ichigo’s friends. Nel and Grimmjow were chatting outside of their tent. Rukia joined Renji in the large white tent. Orihime and Tatsuki were working on setting up their tent. And Uryu and Chad were searching for the optimal place to set up their tent.

Shiro turned back to Ichigo and noticed the small, happy smile on his lover’s face. Shiro took his opportunity to place a kiss on Ichigo’s cheek.

“What was that for?” Ichigo asked softly.

“What, I’m not allowed to give my boyfriend a kiss?”

Ichigo’s smile grew. “I guess that’s what we are, for real, huh?”

Shiro chuckled and lowered his voice. “You mean, fucking under a bridge didn’t count as dating?”

“Sh-Shiro…” Ichigo found his free hand instinctively curling around Shiro’s waist. “Our relationship is... so weird.”

“I know.” Shiro grinned. “And I love it. We started off fighting each other, and you were so cute with how flustered you got as I called your body hot.”

“Shiro, I was trying to stop you from stealing, and then you suddenly told me that my pants made my ass look really good. Of course, I was going to be flustered.”

“But they did,” Shiro insisted. “Your ass is so nice, Ichigo.”

Ichigo scowled at Shiro, and yet, he was still unable to hide the blush crawling across his face.

Shiro grinned and glanced slowly up and down Ichigo. “You know, another thing. You look damn cute with a blush, but so sexy too. I was right, that day we went to the beach, you really were holding out on me. Holy shit, Ichigo.”

“St-Stop talking about my body.”

“Your body isn’t the only thing I find hot, you know,” Shiro murmured.

Ichigo pouted, trying not to act embarrassed, but his squirming was a dead give away. “Well… what else do you find…?”

“Sexy?” Shiro almost purred. “Your laugh. The way you’d defend your friends in a heartbeat. The way you smile at me whenever you’re turned on, or just, maybe the way you smile in general. Anytime you’re feeling confident, that makes my heart beat faster too.”

Ichigo took in a deep breath. He couldn’t believe that he was about to do this, but he stepped up closer to Shiro, locking eyes with the man as their bodies just barely touched. “You think I’m sexy when I’m confident, hmm?” His voice was a little shaky, so he took another breath and tried again. “Does that mean, the real reason you want me to relax and let loose so badly is because you want to see me confident?”

Shiro gasped softly. “Maybe. Was my master plan so easy to figure out?”

“Oh, Shiro…” Ichigo kissed him, dragging teeth along Shiro’s bottom lip as he leaned away. “You couldn’t handle me at my most confident. I’d bring you to your knees.”

Ichigo turned on his heels and continued to march to the river.

Shiro blinked, recovering fast enough to catch up with Ichigo, but not quickly enough to think of something to say. His body was still tingling where Ichigo’s body had made contact, and all Shiro could think was,  _ Damn… _

Ichigo did his best not to look back at Shiro as he stepped down the stones which lead to the river. He couldn’t let Shiro see just how shaken up he was after that little performance, but the truth was, he wasn’t nearly as shaken up as he thought he would be. No, in fact, Ichigo really liked being the one to leave Shiro breathless. It was a nice change when he wasn't the one making a fool of himself... and Shiro was kinda cute all flustered too.

“Ichigo?” Shiro called, his voice a little breathy. “Um… do you want me to put sunscreen on your back?”

Ichigo grinned and turned his head to face Shiro. “I dunno, Shi, do you  _ want  _ to put sunscreen on my back? I think you might enjoy it as much as I would enjoy not getting burned.”

Shiro’s heart jumped a little. “Is that a yes?”

“Sure, and thank you,” Ichigo replied. He set his towel down on a chair and then waited with his back to Shiro.

Shiro scrambled to put the floaty and his towel down on another chair and then rushed up to meet Ichigo. He started rubbing in the sunscreen on Ichigo’s shoulders and then worked his way down Ichigo’s back.

“Feels nice, Shi,” Ichigo murmured.

Shiro smiled. “Think you can do mine next?”

“Sure thing,” Ichigo replied. Ichigo’s face was a bold red, but as long as Shiro didn’t see it, he could win this little competition between them.

Shiro felt his heart racing. Dear god, as much as he liked this self-confident Ichigo, Shiro was definitely unprepared for it. He wanted the stuttering mess back, as much as he wanted Ichigo to just keep going.

 

If someone were to have told Shiro just a year ago that he would meet a man that swept him off his feet, Shiro would've laughed and shaken his head. But now that he had Ichigo... well, Ichigo was his King, what more could be said?

“You’re done, Ichi.”

“Alright,” Ichigo said, “turn around.”

Shiro flushed. “Yes, King,” he teased.

Ichigo sputtered, spinning around and snatching the bottle of lotion from Shiro. “D-Don’t say that so loud, someone will hear!”

Shiro grinned. “I don’t mind.”

“I-I do,” Ichigo muttered. Though, he smiled a little at the blush on Shiro’s cheeks. As Shiro spun around, he poured lotion on his hands. “It’s not that… not that I’m ashamed you call me that, Shiro, I just want you to know that. I love that you gave me that nickname, but… I don’t think I’m ready to spill that information to my friends just yet.”

“Don’t worry, Ichigo,” Shiro replied, “I understand. I’m not gonna out you to your friends.”

Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, thanks.”

Shiro snickered. “I’m still gonna call you that in private, though.”

“That’s fine.”

Shiro felt a hint of nails move down his back and he arched into them.

“I can handle that, Shi,” Ichigo hummed. “The question is, do you think you can handle me?”

“Oh?” Shiro looked over his shoulder in question. “And what does that mean?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.” Ichigo winked.

“I look forward to it.”

“I hope you do.”

Shiro laughed to himself as Ichigo finished covering his back with sunscreen. Ichigo poured a bunch onto his left hand and then returned the bottle to Shiro.

“All yours,” Ichigo said.

“Thanks.”

Ichigo covered the parts of himself that he could reach with the sunscreen from his hand, grinning at Shiro when he noticed his golden gaze had wandered in Ichigo’s direction. Shiro quickly looked away, unable to keep a brush from appearing on his face after being caught staring.

“Ready?” Ichigo asked after another minute.

Shiro nodded and the two made their way onto the dock.

Ichigo peered over the edge. “I wonder how deep it is?”

Shiro stepped up beside Ichigo, leaning over as well. “Yeah, it looks like it might be deep enough ta dive, but I wouldn’t just jump in blindly.”

“You’re right.” Ichigo stepped behind Shiro. “Wanna check for me?”

“Huh?” Shiro yelped when Ichigo pushed him. The villain snapped around, catching Ichigo’s hand and dragging him into the water too.

Ichigo stuck his head up out of the water and laughed. “Nice reflexes, Shi… Shiro?” Ichigo laughed and yelled as Shiro grabbed him by the foot, dragging him under the surface.

Ichigo emerged from the water and saw Shiro standing up beside the dock.

Ichigo splashed him. “Ass.”

Shiro grinned. “Oh yeah? And who was it that pushed me?”

“True.” Ichigo swam up to shore to meet Shiro there. He glanced at his arms. “Well, I don’t know if the sunscreen is gonna do much for us now. Probably all came off in the water.”

“I dunno, Ichi, ya rubbed it into my back real good.” Shiro winked.

Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, then his cheeks burned and he glanced away. “Whatever.”

Shiro stepped up to him, finding his lips in a soft kiss. “I’m just teasing, love.”

Ichigo smiled. “I know… and you called me ‘love’, that’s so cute.”

“I almost called you ‘King’ again. It’s a bad habit.”

Ichigo grinned. “I dunno, I think it’s a good habit, just one we gotta hide.”

Shiro nodded. “I know you want to hide your other life from your friends, but… well, how much do we have to hide? They said we could be ourselves.”

“Ourselves, yeah, but…” Ichigo fidgeted. “Just not this much, not all at once.”

Shiro offered Ichigo a quick smile. “Alright. Let me know when you’re comfortable and I’ll only move ahead as many steps as you like.”

“Thanks, Shi.”

“Anything for my boyfriend.”

“I love that we’re a real couple now,” Ichigo chuckled.

Shiro raised a brow. “As opposed to not being a real couple before?”

“No,  _ no, _ ” Ichigo panicked. “I just mean, we’re official now. Like, my friends know about you and we’re calling each other boyfriends. It’s nice.”

“Beats having to leave sticky notes or encrypted messages for you to come see me.”

Ichigo chuckled at first, then laughed. “I still can’t believe how hard you made me fall for you. Oh my god, we fought for real so many times but all I could think about was how to get you to flirt with me again.”

Shiro grinned and his hands found Ichigo’s waist. “I used to think you were so innocent, and then we kissed for the first time and you kissed back. Then, after that, we slept together for the first time and you were so needy and demanding.”

“Oh shut up,” Ichigo muttered. “You were the one who kept asking and asking me. First, it was for a kiss, then it was _‘Oi, Yasashi, if we sleep together, I promise I’ll blow your mind. It’ll be the best sex ya ever ‘ave’_.” Ichigo imitated Shiro’s accent.

Shiro’s grin went crooked, and the spark in his eyes grew dangerous. “Was I wrong? You were moaning and-”

“Shh,” Ichigo hushed him and placed a kiss on Shiro’s lips just in case. “I was noisy because you encouraged me to be loud."

Shiro nodded. “I don't regret a thing... except, maybe I wish I came clean to ya about who I was sooner."

Ichigo closed his eyes and hugged Shiro.

Shiro blinked in surprise first before hugging Ichigo back.

"I love you, Shiro," Ichigo murmured. "In case I don't say it enough, I love you."

Shiro felt light-headed. "I love you too, Ichigo."

Ichigo leaned away, giving Shiro a smile that reached his eyes. Ichigo swayed through the water and wandered up to shore. He grabbed the floaty from the chair and then made his way onto the dock. When he realised Shiro was still watching him, he gestured to the dock,  “Are you coming?”

Shiro smirked and waded through the water until he hit the shore, then he jogged to meet Ichigo on the doc.

Ichigo was smirking.

“What?” Shiro asked.

“Oh nothing,” Ichigo said as tossed the floaty into the water. “Just, I made you come with only a few words.”

Shiro blinked, stunned, as Ichigo laughed at him and jumped into the river. A devilish grin was back on Shiro’s lips in no time as he jumped into the water after his boyfriend.

* * *

Renji stared out across the field, over the hill and at the river. There, he could see Ichigo and Shiro swimming. Ichigo was currently laying on the floaty, his head back and his eyes closed, while Shiro occasionally pulled on the floaty to keep Ichigo from drifting too far downstream.

Renji grinned. “Ichigo looks so peaceful over there, Rukia. It makes me want to just… swim over and flip him.”

Rukia shot Renji a somewhat amused smirk. “As funny as that would be, I think we all need to give Ichigo a break.”

Renji leaned back, a little shocked. “I thought you literally designed this entire weekend to embarrass him?”

“No!” Rukia hit Renji lightly with the stack of cards in her hand. “I’m not trying to embarrass Ichigo. I want him to loosen up. He hasn’t been, I don’t know, trusting with us lately? How do I explain it… It’s just, every time he talks with me, I feel like he’s hiding something. And then, when I call him out on it, he reveals that he has a crush on someone, and then a date with someone, and then suddenly he has a boyfriend! I have to drive the information from him, and it still feels like he’s hiding something else even after I get something from him.”

Renji gave Rukia a small hug. “It’s alright, Ruki, not something worth beating yourself up over. You know Ichigo has always been like this. He doesn’t like getting us involved in stuff that he thinks will worry us.”

“And that’s the thing, I want to worry about him. I want him to tell me what’s been bothering him or what’s coming up in his life that he’s so worried about because I can tell that he’s worried. So really, this Truth or Dare game is just me trying to get him to feel more comfortable being himself around us.”

Renji chuckled as he let Rukia go. “Really? That’s what this is about?”

Rukia smirked when she knew she was busted. “Okay, fine, and I want to embarrass him a little. He suddenly has a boyfriend? You can bet that I’m going to tease him about it a bit. And I have to show his boyfriend that we’re a bunch of really close friends. We can have fun.”

Renji nodded. “I see.”


End file.
